IATA AGM 2013: JAL starts to review 777 replacement options

Japan Airlines (JAL) chairman Masaur Onishi said (03-Jun-2013) on the sidelines of a oneworld briefing at the IATA annual general meeting in Cape Town that the carrier is now starting the process of evaluating options for renewing its Boeing 777 fleet. Mr Onishi says the carrier plans to initially look at replacing its fleet of over 40 777s, which include aircraft in its domestic and international fleets, with "one package" of about 45 aircraft for delivery starting in 2019 at the earliest. But he says JAL could end up splitting the package and separately acquire replacement aircraft for its 777 domestic and 777 international fleets. Mr Onishi says JAL is in no hurry to make a decision and if it does not get a good deal in response to its current request for proposals it could postpone a decision on its 777 fleet. Accord to the CAPA Fleet Datbase, JAL currently operates 26 777-200/200ERs and 20 777-300/300ERs.