JAL European flights update

We all know the volcanic eruption in Iceland has caused flight cancelations in Europe. The weather condition seems to improve a bit now and Japan Airlines (JAL) has started resuming some European flights yesterday.

JAL operates its first ex-Europe flight from Moscow yesterday. It arrived at Narita at 8:30 on April 20. However, there were only around 180 passengers onboard. The 777-200ER has a W51 configuration with 245 seats (56C 40PY 149Y) and JAL only managed to fill around 73% of it even after almost a week of flight cancelation!?!?

The second ex-Europe flight is from Milan (FCO). It arrived at Narita at 11:52 on April 20. It was originally scheduled to be the first flight to arrive at around 8:00 but was delayed due to ATC instructions. This special rescue flight JAL8400 probably is not helping JAL to make any profit even though it's packed with around 320 passengers. JAL actually had to send a 744 on standby from JFK to Milan to operate this flight. This is probably the one JAL uses on the NRT-JFK-GRU route which usually has a L02 configuration with 323 seats (11F 77C 235Y). So the flight was probably full. See 744 is still quite useful as a rescue flight :) JAL has also operated 2 flights to FCO today. The extra flight JL8409 is also a FULL flight.

But sometimes it's not all about money when you operate an airline. You have a certain social responsibility too. As long as you don't lose money on a daily basis :P So good job JAL for bringing those stranded passengers home!

If you are traveling on JAL to Europe, make sure your check your flight schedule before you go to the airport. You can do so online on JAL website. Also, make sure you register for flight status change notification. You can do so on the view your reservation page.

Source: The Manichi Daily News

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