Japan Airlines is a major Japanese airline headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The airline's main hubs are Tokyo's Narita and Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai and Itami airports. The JAL group comprises Japan Airlines, Hokkaido Air System, J-Air, Japan Air Commuter, Japan Transocean Air and Ryukyu Air Commuter for domestic feeder services, and JAL Cargo for cargo and mail services, as well as low-cost carriers Zipair Tokyo and Jetstar Japan. JAL was established in 1951 as a government-owned business and became the national airline of Japan in 1953. After over three decades of service and expansion, the airline was fully privatised in 1987. In 2002, the airline merged with Japan Air System, Japan's third-largest airline, and became the sixth-largest airline in the world by passengers carried. It went bankrupt in 2009 in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and underwent significant restructuring. The airline returned to profitability and was relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2011, although it has since lost its position as Japan's largest airline to All Nippon Airways. Wikipedia