France

Barely half a century after the pioneering feat of the Wright Brothers in Kitty Hawk in 1903, Japan marked an achievement in its own aviation history. In October 1951, Japan Airlines first took to the sky as the country's flag carrier and this year marks the 50th anniversary of that first flight.

Across the globe, JAL is commemorating the milestone. Since opening its first office in Paris in 1960, the airline has become instrumental in bolstering Franco-Japanese relations, whether in trade, culture, or tourism. From the onset, JAL has also had a partnership with the French national carrier Air France.

JAL's top trio in France (L-R): Sales Manager Jun Nishiwaki, VP and new General Director Junzo Hikita, and Administrative Manager Susumu Sawamura.

In the last 40 years, JAL has seen France grow into one of the top European destinations of Japanese travellers. JAL services half of the roughly 1 million Japanese who go to Paris each year on business and for tourism. In fact the balance has seen a shift to more business visitors as the Japanese further strengthen economic ties with the French.

"Many French businesspeople have been going to Japan. The French economy has been relatively good with 3.2 percent in forecasted growth," says Hajime Sudo, JAL's former Vice-President and Representative for France. "The demand for flights to Japan in 2000 was up 130 percent. In 2001, we forecast a 110 percent increase."

With French retailers boosting their presence in Japan and Franco-Japanese joint ventures being set up on both sides, JAL has kept pace with the strengthening relations between the two countries. Already, JAL Paris has serviced more French passengers - business executives and tourists alike - than it has Japanese.

"Our French clients have been appreciative of our standard of safety operations, punctuality, frequency, comfortable in-flight services, and our JAL Mileage Bank program which has partnerships with major European carriers like Air France," Sudo comments.

JAL's new general director for France, Mr. Junzo Hikita, will spearhead further Franco-Japanese cooperation, along with ushering French football fans into the World Cup events in Japan in 2002.

With Japan hosting defending champions France and with the Japanese national team coached by a Frenchman, this will be the perfect stage to showcase Franco-Japanese cooperation -- a partnership that JAL has been a part of for over fifty years, and will continue to strengthen for years to come.

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