Japan Airlines Corp., Asia's biggest carrier, has applied for a ¥200 billion loan from the Development Bank of Japan after the global recession sapped demand for international travel.

The carrier hasn't been told when it will receive an answer on its application, Taro Namba, a spokesman for the airline, said in an interview in Tokyo.

JAL has ¥35 billion in bonds maturing over the next four months and has said it may post a loss of ¥34 billion for the previous fiscal year amid a slump in business travel. The airline's below-investment-grade credit rating has prevented it from tapping renewed demand for corporate debt that helped drive Japanese bond sales to a record in March, led by Panasonic Corp. and Denso Corp.

The state-run Development Bank of Japan is JAL's largest creditor, with ¥284 billion in borrowings outstanding at the end of March 2008. The bank lent the carrier ¥90 billion during outbreaks of SARS in the fiscal year that ended in March 2004.

The airline flew 18.2 percent fewer passengers overseas in December, the biggest monthly decline since August 2003.

All Nippon Airways Co., the nation's second-largest airline, has no plans to follow its rival in asking for an emergency loan from the state-run bank, said Rob Henderson, a spokesman at the carrier, Tuesday in Tokyo.

ANA has predicted a loss of ¥9 billion for the fiscal year that ended on March 31.