 JAL is Asia's biggest airline in terms of revenue |
Japan Airlines (JAL) shares have closed at a six-month high as investors predict fresh funding and job cuts will help the firm stage a recovery. Shares closed 5.1% higher as JAL said it will ask banks for 60bn yen ($500m, �254m) by March to help pay its debts.
Investors were also lifted by media reports on the airline's mid-term business plan, which was said to include a 6% cut in the work force.
The airline has been hit by high fuel prices and high-profile safety alarms.
"We can't yet say the company's operations have fully recovered but its stock price will likely reflect investors' views that the worst is over," Okasan Securities analyst Yoshihisa Miyamoto told Reuters.
He said JAL still had to deal with sluggish demand from individual domestic travellers and reduce its debt.
JAL posted a loss of more than 47bn yen in the year to March 2006.
The airline, Asia's biggest airline by revenue but ranked sixth by market value, plans to announce its new business plan on 6 February.