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Interview

COVID forces Japan Airlines onto new flight path, president says

Akasaka predicts permanent downturn in business travel for flag carrier

"We have focused on business travelers taking mainly our international flights, but that demand will not come back to where it used to be," JAL President Yuji Akasaka told Nikkei Asia. (Photo by Manami Yamada)

TOKYO -- Japan Airlines is to reduce its focus on international business travel to strengthen its low-cost network, its president has told Nikkei Asia, in a sign of how the coronavirus pandemic has shaken up one of the country's two main carriers.

JAL might also need further state support if its finances continue to deteriorate as a result of the massive downturn in demand for flights during the pandemic, Yuji Akasaka said.

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