JAPAN'S biggest airline - All Nippon Airways - will start introducing in April, a long-term sabbatical leave programme for its staff as travel demand plunges amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Company officials said ANA will allow its staff the leave for up to two years.
The airline's move, unprecedented in Japan in terms of leave length, comes as ANA tries to curb labour costs, having furloughed many cabin crew members due to the Covid-19 virus spread.
According to a Kyodo News report, around 15,000 ANA pilots, and cabin and ground staff will be eligible for the new sabbatical leave system.
They are also allowed to temporarily work at other companies during this period.
While the leave will be unpaid, the company will provide 200,000 yen (US$1,930) for those who start their sabbatical leave of more than one year in 2021.
The airline will also cover the employees' social security contributions during their absence that can last at least one month.
Those taking the sabbatical leave can choose from several options of length -- five months, one year, 18 months and two years.
ANA already has leave systems for employees engaged in nursing care and fertility treatment as well as overseas studies or advanced education programmes provided that the further studies will enhance their contributions to the company.
The existing leave systems will be integrated into the new sabbatical scheme, in which employees can leave the workplace without citing specific reasons, the officials said.
Meanwhile, ANA announced on Tuesday that it will suspend its services on 16 international flight routes from late March due to falling travel demand amid the pandemic.
The services that will be halted in the new schedule between March 28 and Oct 30 include those between Tokyo's Haneda airport and Moscow and Narita airport to New York, as well as San Francisco.
ANA will also reduce the number of flights between Haneda and Bangkok and on two other routes.
The scale of operations is likely to be half of last year's initial plan for the period.
ANA, which has now cut about 80 per cent of its international flights, said it will maintain a flexible approach to its operations, while keeping close tabs on demand trends and the situation of the pandemic.
The company also said it will reduce costs by using smaller aircrafts and promote the early retirement of its Boeing 777s, replacing them with more fuel-efficient Boeing 787s, in line with its plan announced in October.