Japan carrier ANA says profit soars on international business

Japanese carrier ANA pointed to a weak yen and a jump in international visitors for a soaring fiscal first-quarter profit, as the airline also benefited from dropping fuel costs and more landing slots at a Tokyo airport. ANA Holdings, the parent company of All Nippon Airways, said operating profit skyrocketed to 16.7 billion yen ($135 million) from just 347 million yen a year ago, while net income more than doubled to 8.4 billion yen from 3.5 billion yen. Revenue rose 7.0 percent at 413.9 billion yen, it said. ANA left its full-year forecast unchanged, still expecting net profit of 52 billion yen on revenue of 1.79 trillion yen. "International passenger numbers and revenues both increased due to steady business demand and growing numbers of in-bound travellers to Japan," the company said in a statement. Domestic passenger revenue rose 2.7 percent to 152.3 billion yen while international business sales jumped 9.2 percent to 119.3 billion yen, ANA said. "The Japanese aviation sector is enjoying strong demand for business use on the back of the nation's economic recovery," said Hiroshi Hasegawa, analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo. "A weak yen has helped boost the number of foreign tourists coming to Japan, especially from Asian countries," he told AFP. Falling oil prices have also helped the carrier's bottom line -- fuel is often an airline's single-biggest expense. ANA has been in a spat with its rival and one-time flag-carrier Japan Airlines over the allocation of landing slots at Haneda, after JAL emerged from one of the nation's biggest-ever bankruptcies following a government rescue. "ANA has continued to benefit from an expansion of international slots at Haneda," Hasegawa said. ANA recently said it was throwing a lifeline to bankrupt domestic rival Skymark Airlines, Japan's third-biggest airline, which flies on domestic routes. Skymark filed for bankruptcy protection in late January in the face of potentially massive penalties linked to a cancelled $2.2 billion jet order with Airbus. The Skymark deal would expand ANA's landing slots and give it the upper hand in setting airfares. Earlier this month, US carrier Delta Air Lines joined a rival bid to rescue Skymark, whose creditors will vote on the competing proposals next month. If the Delta deal is successful, it would be the first foreign airline to get access to slots for domestic flights at Haneda. Japan Airlines is scheduled to release its first-quarter results on Thursday.