Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400. The colour scheme has changed since
this photo was taken.
Larger version

Japan Airlines (or JAL) is the national airline company of Japan, along with All Nippon Airways. Its IATA designator is JL.

Most of the airline's international service is based at New Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Japan. The domestic service is mostly out of Tokyo International Airport in the ward of Ota in Tokyo, Japan.

History

In 1953, a Martin 404 of Japan Airlines crashed, killing all 37 on board.

Japan Airlines, in addition to the 404's, used DC-3, DC-4, DC-6 and DC-7 during the 1950s. Towards the end of that decade, it started its first international service, to San Francisco.

In 1960, Japan Airlines bought their first jet, a DC-8. Soon after, they decided to re-equip their airline, using jet airplanes only. That decade, many new international destinations were established.

In the 1970s they bought the Boeing 747, the Boeing 727 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 to accommodate the ever growing list of international routes, both to its Asian neighbors, and around the world.

In the 1980s Japan Airlines performed special flights for the Crown Prince of Japan and the Princess, Pope John Paul II, and various Japanese prime ministers. During that decade they also began to be more promotionally aware, with plane models and other promotional items being produced in quantity. It also bought new Boeing 767 jets and retired the DC-8's and 727's. On August 12, 1985, Japan Airlines flight 123, a 747 bound for Osaka International Airport, Itami/Toyonaka, lost control and crashed into a mountain after takeoff from Tokyo International Airport, Ota, Tokyo; it is the worst single-aircraft disaster in history, with 540 out of 544 passengers dying.

Japan Airlines began the 1990s with flights to help evacuate Japanese citizens from Iraq before the start of the Gulf War. In 1992, Japan Air Charters was established, and in 1997, an agreement with The Walt Disney Company was announced, making Japan Airlines the official airline of Disney Tokyo. That year also, JALExpress had been established, with Boeing 737 aircraft. Also in 1997, the airline had to fly the Japanese prime minister to Peru to help negotiate in the Tupac Amaru kidnapping case. Japan Airlines acquired Boeing 777's during that decade, and it was named the official airline of the Sydney Olympic Games.

On October 2, 2002, JAL established a new holding company called Japan Airlines System (日本航空システム) and merged with former competitor Japan Air System (JAS).

Currently

Other facts of interest

• Japan Airlines painted their Boeing 747, registration JA8908, with an Adidas soccer livery.
• Boeing 747, registration JA5307, is the dream skyward baseball plane.
• The airline's Boeing 767-300, registration JA8853, is the Expo 2005 airplane.
• Perhaps the most famous of the Japan Airlines repainted airplanes is JA8184, another Boeing 747, nicknamed Resocha.

Referenced By