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Japan Airlines records only slight decline in total international passenger numbers in December
January 26th 2026
Japan Airlines (JAL) flew 658,949 passengers on international routes in December 2025, 0.8% less than during the same month in 2024, according to the traffic data published by the carrier. Read More » The slight decline means, in traffic terms, JAL managed to avoid the consequences of the ongoing China and Japan diplomatic crisis, which resulted in dropping tourists and flights between the nations. Looking into more details, the number of JAL Group international passengers in December on East Asia routes, excluding Korea (China, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) was 132,414 - 18% less than a year before. The passenger demand (RPK) on international routes increased 5.1% year-on-year in December, while capacity (ASK) 5.8%. The international passenger load factor was 82.2% for the month. In the third quarter of the financial year 2025, which ended December 2025, JAL flew 2,025,532 international passengers, up 4.6% from a year earlier. On domestic routes, JAL transported 3,050,028 passengers in December, a similar number to a year earlier. The demand (RPK) increased 0.2%, and the capacity (ASK) declined 1.2% year-on-year. The load factor on domestic routes in December was 79.7%.
