More than 1,000 new employees of Japan Airlines (JAL) Group gathered at the company's hangar in Haneda Airport in Tokyo yesterday for the group's annual initiation ceremony.

Speeches were made by senior company officials, including new group president Yuji Akasaka.

To cap off the event, the new recruits threw paper airplanes into the air, shouting "Take off!"

JAL is Japan's largest airline, and flies to more than 50 international destinations.

It has rebuilt itself from a 2010 bankruptcy filing, and generated an operating profit of 170 billion yen (S$2.1 billion) in the 2016 fiscal year.