It also needs to fight off competition from emerging low-cost carriers and rival All Nippon Airways (ANA).

BBC: JAL profits boosted by cost cuts

It comes after an All Nippon Airways (ANA) 787 had to make an emergency landing due to a battery malfunction.

BBC: Dreamliner: Japan and US probe battery maker

Japan's leading airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), has been using such e-wallets to compete with the country's formidably fast trains for more than five years.

BBC: Near field communication transforms travel in Japan

In a separate incident on 16 January on board an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight, smoke was reported coming from the plane's battery but no flames.

BBC: Boeing 787 Dreamliner: NTSB details battery fire

Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) has said it will cancel all Boeing 787 flights until at least the end of May, in the latest blow to Boeing.

BBC: Dreamliner: Japan's ANA cancels more Boeing 787 flights

The incidents on the Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) planes prompted authorities in both the US and Japan to launch inquiries to try to find out what caused the battery problems.

BBC: Dreamliner crisis: Boeing seeks test flight for 787

The problems sparked a battery fire on a parked Japan Airlines 787 at Boston's Logan International Airport and another incident in which battery smoke forced an emergency landing of an All Nippon Airways (ANA) 787 in Japan.

BBC: Boeing's Dreamliner battery fix approved by US regulators