Japan Airlines (JAL) has said it expecting to report an operating loss of Y15bn ($104m) as a result of the collision between one of its A350 aircraft and a coastguard plane at Haneda airport.
While all 379 people on board the flight managed to disembark the aircraft, the two-year-old widebody jet was destroyed after being engulfed in flames that took more than six hours to extinguish. The airline described its condition as a “total loss”.
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The fatal accident occurred when the A350 collided with a coastguard plane after landing on the runway, leading to the deaths of five of the six people onboard the smaller plane, which was meant to be delivering aid supplies to areas of Japan affected by the recent earthquake. Two pets onboard the JAL plane were also killed.
The airline has said the loss of the aircraft should be covered by an insurance policy, held by AIG according to Reuters, though the company will also incur other costs such as passenger compensation, which is reportedly being discussed with customers on an individual basis.
Despite the successful evacuation of the A350 averting further deaths, the expected Y15bn loss marks a significant dent in the airline’s finances given the Y61.1bn profit most recently recorded by the JAL Group for the first half of FY2023.
On the stock market, JAL’s shares saw a high number of sell orders when markets opened for the first time since the accident on 5 January, though the price was able to recover by the close of the day.
The loss of an A350 is particularly notable for the airline as it only recently welcomed its first A350-1000 in December 2023, saying it would use the plane as its next international aircraft.
