Japan aviation fuel tax and aero charges cuts show serious intent to reform the sector

Japan's airline industry is under stress. That much is obvious from Jan-2010's bankruptcy of the country's iconic flag carrier. When Japan Airlines entered bankruptcy protection at the beginning of the year, the high cost of operations in the country was highlighted as a major obstacle to future survival. So, as well as pushing the airlines to become more efficient, the government came under pressure to remove some of the more obvious elements of that add up to an impossibly costly backdrop for JAL, All Nippon and a small secondary sector.