JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) is closing in on a regional jet order, the head of the airline's corporate division has told Aviation Week. Yuji Saito says the carrier is looking to place an order next year and anticipates deliveries beginning in the 2028 financial year.
The tentative timeline is a refinement of previous guidance. JAL's senior vice-president for route marketing, Ross Leggett, told ch-aviation earlier this year that he expected regional aircraft order discussions to begin within the next 12 months and deliveries to start towards the end of the decade.
Leggett called the regional aircraft fleet renewal the "remaining piece of the puzzle" but said Japan's changing demographics made the decision less straightforward than expected. He said Japan's shrinking population was an important factor to consider, and thinner regional routes are unlikely to grow in capacity and would need appropriately sized aircraft. "There is not a lot of choice," he said about the available aircraft.
Japan Airlines subsidiaries operate the regional network on behalf of the carrier, providing aircraft on a wet lease basis. ch-aviation fleets data reveals Japan Air Commuter (JC, Kagoshima) and HAC - Hokkaido Air System (NTH, Hakodate) operate thirteen ATR42-600s and two ATR72-600s between them on behalf of Japan Airlines, while J-Air (Nagoya Komaki) operates eighteen E170s and fourteen E190s.
