All Nippon Airways Co. slid into the red in the first half of the business year due to the lingering aftereffects of last year's terror attacks in the U.S. and losses suffered on overseas hotel sales.

The nation's No. 2 airline posted a group net loss of 8.11 billion yen in the April-September period, marking a reversal from the profit of 16.83 billion yen recorded a year earlier.

Group pretax profit fell 81.2 percent to 6.01 billion yen, while revenues dropped 2.6 percent to 622.13 billion yen.

The net loss was mainly attributed to an extraordinary loss of 29 billion yen booked primarily on sales of hotels in Vienna and Sydney.

Group revenues were driven down by the current economic slump and fierce competition among rival domestic airlines, the firm said.

The number of passengers on international flights fell 2.5 percent to 1.87 million, with revenues dropping 3.5 percent to 96.4 billion yen. This was mainly due to a stuttering recovery in demand for tours in the wake of the terror attacks Sept. 11, 2001.

The prolonged aftereffects of the attacks more than offset efforts to boost ticket sales via fare initiatives and other deals on both economy- and business-class seats, a steady increase in travelers to other Asian countries, and special demand during the World Cup soccer finals in May and June.

For the full year through March, ANA expects to remain in the red for the second straight year, logging a group net loss of 18 billion yen.

The airline suffered a 9.46 billion yen loss in 2001.