Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) on Monday hiked its full-year profit forecast by some 40.0 percent, thanks to strong travel demand, cost cutting and gains on plane sales.
The carrier, which operated the maiden commercial flight of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner late last year, said it now expects a 28.0 billion yen ($345.0 million) net profit for the fiscal year to March, up from an earlier 20.0 billion yen forecast.
ANA said its operating profit would also be higher at 97.0 billion yen, up from an earlier forecast of 90.0 billion yen, while sales would come in at 1.41 trillion yen, slightly higher than the 1.40 trillion yen previously announced.
Strong tourism demand helped boost the forecast, although ANA said its domestic business remained sluggish in the year following Japan's quake-tsunami disaster.
Its operating profits improved amid cost-cutting and better-than-expected earnings from the sale of aircraft, the carrier said without elaborating.
In February, the Japanese airline said it would aim to boost its international capacity by 22.0 percent within two years and begin fresh routes as part of a new business strategy.
Japan's aviation market has long been dominated by ANA and Japan Airlines, but this year will see the launch of a number of new low cost carriers that are expected to provide competition to the established airlines.
