Japan Airlines (Jal) raised its annual profit forecast despite a profits drop for the first three quarters and the grounding of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
The carrier forecast a net profit of 163bn yen (£1.1bn) for the year to March 31, up from 140 billion yen.
Travel demand to Europe, North America and South East Asia would help offset any impact of the 787 grounding, Jal said.
“While there are concerns of the impact of the suspended use of the Boeing 787 aircraft since January 2013, business has been robust, especially on European, North American and Southeast Asian routes.” the airline said.
“Various measures including new products and services, which were steadily promoted, are also expected to uplift revenue.”
Rival All Nippon Airways warned last week that it would take a 1.4bn yen hit from the Dreamliner grounding and Jal yesterday postponed a Tokyo-Helsinki 787 service.