TOKYO: Japan Airlines Co on Tuesday forecast a 60% rise in net profit for the current business year as travel demand recovers further from the COVID-19 pandemic, and after swinging back to the black for the first time in three years.

For the business year to March 2024, JAL expects a group net profit of 55 billion yen ($399.8 million), compared with 33.8 billion yen last year.

Nine analysts surveyed by Refinitiv forecast a mean profit of 75.3 billion yen.

A pick-up in travel demand throughout the last fiscal year offset higher fuel costs to help Japan’s second-largest airline return to profit.

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Group revenue is expected to rise 20.5% to 1.66 trillion yen, the company said.

Last month, the country’s top airline ANA Holdings also reported an annual profit and expected a further rise this year.