Japan Airlines is considering replacing its aging fleet of Boeing 767 and Embraer SA jets, a senior executive has confirmed.
Ross Leggett, head of route marketing, international relations and alliances for the airline, said the Boeing 787 and Airbus SE models were being considered as possible replacements for its 767 fleet, with the Airbus A220 and Embraer E2 models for regional services currently provided by its SA jets.
“We have got a fairly large 787 fleet, so whether it is an A321 that could then be used quite well within Asia as well, we really haven’t looked at the full decision,” said Leggett, as quoted by Reuters.
Japan Airlines currently has 31 767s, 18 Embraer E-170s and 14 E-190s in its fleet.
In line with the industry in general, Japan’s second-largest airline has seen a boost in numbers as Covid-19 restrictions on travel around the world are mostly removed. Leggett said that domestic capacity had returned to 100% of pre-pandemic levels in May, although international capacity is still around 65% with travel to and from China, South Korea and Taiwan still heavily restricted while Japan limits daily entry numbers.
The Japanese government started to allow tourists to enter the country again from June 10th, initially allowing only those on package tours to visit. It is expected that entry restrictions will be relaxed should the roll-out prove successful.