Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines Corporation, the national airline and flag carrier of Japan, was founded in 1950. It boasts of being the largest airline operated in Asia. Its major hubs are Narita International Airport (for international flights) and Tokyo International Airport (for domestic flights). Currently, the airline operates both scheduled and non-scheduled flights to domestic as well as international destinations, worldwide. Its headquarters are located at Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. Explore the following lines to get information on the history and profile of Japan Airlines.

History
Japan Air Lines Co., Ltd. was established in August 1951 when in the aftermath of Second World War, Japanese government recognized the need for a reliable transportations system for economic reconstruction of Japan. In 1953, Japanese Parliament passed an Act paving the way for a new state-owned Japan Air Lines. Japan Airlines began its international service on February 2, 1954 when it flew from Tokyo to San Francisco. In 1972, Japanese government granted flag carrier status to JAL.

In 1987, Japan Airlines was completely privatized and the other two airlines in Japan - All Nippon Airways and Japan Air System - were permitted to compete with JAL on domestic and international routes. In 2001, Japan Air System and Japan Airlines made an agreement to merge. On October 2, 2002, they established a new holding company and named it as Japan Airlines System. This paved the way for the formation of a new core of the JAL Group. The new merged entity was sixth largest in the world in terms of passengers carried, and the third largest in terms of revenue generated by it.

Subsidiaries
JAL Cargo is a subsidiary of Japan Airlines and operates with a fleet consisting of Boeing freighter aircraft. Japan Airlines also has a tourist subsidiary, named as JALways, which flies to a number of Polynesian and Southeast Asian countries. In addition to this, JAL boasts of having six domestic subsidiaries, which include Hokkaido Air System (operates scheduled domestic flights in Hokkaido), JAL Express (operates both domestic and international flights), J-Air (operates feeder liner jets), Japan Air Commuter (operates feeder services), Japan Transocean Air (operates domestic services) and Ryukyu Air Commuter (operates domestic passenger services).

Destinations
Japan Airline operates schedules flights to a number of destinations within and outside the country. Apart from Japan, the airline flies to major Asian countries, which includes China, South Korea, Republic of China (Taiwan), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. In Europe, the airline covers Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Russia and United Kingdom. The Japan carrier also plies flights to United States (including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Kailua-Kona, Honolulu, Chicago and Anchorage), Mexico and Canada. The airline also plies flights to countries in Oceania, including Australia and Guam. It covers Brazil in South America.

Fleet
Japan Airline consists of 196 aircrafts in its fleet. These include McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30, McDonnell Douglas MD-81, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-300, Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 777-200, Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 767-300, Boeing 767-200, Boeing 747-400D, Boeing 747-400, Boeing 747-300, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-400 and Airbus A300-600R.