NEW YORK, May 30 (Reuters) - Japan's second-largest airline All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. (ANA) (9202) plans to withdraw from unprofitable regional routes to boost profits, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported in its Friday online edition. The move would prepare ANA for intensifying competition in domestic flights triggered by a planned integration between Japan's No 1 carrier Japan Airlines Co. Ltd.(JAL) (9201) and the country's third-ranked carrier Japan Air System Co. Ltd. (9203) in October, the Yomiuri said. Around half of ANA's 76 routes and two-thirds of its 520 flights link Japan's regional cities carrying few passengers. ANA also plans to scrap some routes that link Tokyo and small islands or towns with little passenger volume, the paper said, without citing sources. The carrier, currently in talks with money-losing Hokkaido International Airlines Co. Ltd., known as Air Do, which operates a lucrative route linking Tokyo and Sapporo in northern Japan, may also increase flights between Sapporo and Fukuoka in southern Japan, the paper said. The report comes a day after the Asahi Shimbun said ANA was in talks with unlisted Air Do to provide code-sharing service on the route to gear up for expected competition from JAL and JAS that would create the world's sixth-largest airline by passenger volume. ©2002 Reuters Limited.