Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- All Nippon Airways Co., Asia’s second-largest carrier by sales, forecast a second straight annual loss as international passenger travel declined at the fastest pace in six years.

The airline expects a loss of 28 billion yen ($308 million) in the year ending March, compared with a previous prediction of a 3 billion yen profit, it said in a statement today. Sales will probably be 1.26 trillion yen, compared with an earlier forecast of 1.35 trillion yen.

“International travel still hasn’t recovered,” said Yasuhiro Matsumoto, an analyst in Tokyo at Shinsei Securities Co. “It may take one or two years for demand to come back.”

Tokyo-based All Nippon’s profit fell to 3.83 billion yen in the three months ended Sept. 30 from 15.4 billion yen a year earlier. Sales declined to 341.9 billion yen from 346 billion yen. The quarterly figures were derived from first-half results released by the company today.

All Nippon rose 0.4 percent to 253 yen at the close of trading in Tokyo. It has dropped 29 percent this year, compared with a 45 percent decline for Japan Airlines Corp.

Global air passenger travel climbed for the first time in a year in September, with average ticket prices still below year- earlier levels, the International Air Transport Association said yesterday.

Airline traffic rose 0.3 percent, after falling in each of the past 11 months, as carriers slashed fares to win back passengers and as Asian economies benefited from government stimulus packages.

Japan Air, which is scheduled to report earnings on Nov. 13, is predicting a net loss of 63 billion yen this fiscal year. The carrier yesterday applied for financial help from the state- affiliated Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. as it seeks to restructure.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Cooper in Tokyo at ccooper1@bloomberg.net; Kiyotaka Matsuda in Tokyo at kmatsuda@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 30, 2009 02:48 EDT