Japan Airlines has announced it will no longer greet passengers with "ladies and gentlemen" as it follows the trend for gender neutrality. 

The airline has said it will replace the conventional "ladies and gentlemen" with terms that leave out any references to gender, like "good morning" and "good evening". 

The changes are to take effect from October 1 and will also apply to the airline's public announcements inside airports. 

A spokesperson for the airline told AFP that it "will abolish expressions that based on (two types of) sex and use gender-friendly expressions".

Other airlines have taken similar approaches in recent years. 

Last year, United Airlines introduced a non-binary gender option for passengers in its booking process.

The airline's Chief Customer Officer Toby Enqvist said at the time: "United is determined to lead the industry in LGBT inclusivity, and we are so proud to be the first US airline to offer these inclusive booking options for our customers.

"United is excited to share with our customers, whether they identify along the binary of male or female or not, that we are taking the steps to exhibit our care for them while also providing additional employee training to make us even more welcoming for all customers and employees."

In 2018, Australia's flagship airline Qantas introduced 'Spirit of Inclusion' resources for employees that were aimed at "promoting inclusion".

The resources warned that "language can make groups of people invisible", and suggested avoiding words like "guys" and "honey", and "husband and wife" or "mum and dad".