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All Nippon Airways

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, also known as or ANA, is an airline headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is the country's second-largest international airline after Japan Airlines and the country's largest domestic airline. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 22 international routes. ANA employed 22,170 staff as of March 2007.

ANA's main international hubs are at Narita International Airport outside Tokyo and Kansai International Airport in Osaka. Its main domestic hubs are at Tokyo International Airport, Osaka International Airport, Chubu International Airport (near Nagoya), and New Chitose Airport (near Sapporo).

In addition to its mainline operations, ANA controls several smaller carriers:

ANA has also announced they intend to create at least one　LCC subsidiary with another as of yet unnamed Asian airline by fiscal 2009.

History

Formation

ANA's earliest ancestor was , an airline company founded on 27 December1952. Nippon Helicopter was the source of what would later be ANA's IATA airline code, NH.

NH began helicopter services in February 1953. On 15 December 1953, it operated its first cargo flight between Osaka and Tokyo using a de Havilland Dove, JA5008. This was the first scheduled flight flown by a Japanese pilot in postwar Japan. Passenger service on the same route began on 1 February 1954, and was upgraded to a de Havilland Heron in March. In 1955, the Douglas DC-3 plane began flying for NH as well, by which time the airline's route network extended from northern Kyūshū to Sapporo.

ANA's other ancestor was . Although it was founded on 26 December1952, one day before NH, it did not begin operations until 20 January, 1954, when it began night cargo runs between Osaka and Tokyo, also using a de Havilland Dove. It adopted the DC-3 in early 1957, by which point its route network extended through southern Japan from Tokyo to Kagoshima.

FEA merged with NH on 1 December1957. The combined companies had a total market capitalization of 600 million yen. They initially planned to use the name Zen Nippon Kōkū (全日本航空) or "All Japan Airlines" for the combined company. However, the statute authorizing the formation of Japan Airlines also banned any other company from using the words "Japan Airlines" (Nippon Kōkū) in its name, so the English name was changed to "All Nippon Airways" and the Japanese word kōkū (航空, "airline") was changed to kūyu (空輸, literally "air transport").

Domestic era

ANA grew steadily through the 1960s, adding the Vickers Viscount to the fleet in 1960 and the Fokker F27 in 1961. 1961 marked ANA's debut at the Tokyo Stock Exchange as well as the Osaka Securities Exchange; in the same year, the airline was granted a permit to operate flights to Okinawa, technically international flights since Okinawa remained occupied by the US military.

1963 saw another merger, this one with Fujita Airlines, raising the company's capital to 4 billion yen. In 1964, ANA introduced jet services with Boeing 727s on the Tokyo-Sapporo route. It also introduced Japan's first homegrown turboprop airliner, the YS-11, to replace Convair 440s on local routes. In 1969, ANA introduced Boeing 737 service.

As ANA grew, it started to contract travel companies across Japan to handle ground services in each region. This strategy was unique to ANA at that time. Many of these companies received shares in ANA as part of their deals. Some of these relationships continue today in different forms: for instance, Nagoya Railroad, which handled ANA's operations in the Chūbu region, maintains a permanent seat on ANA's board of directors.

ANA soon became Japan's largest domestic airline. However, the Ministry of Transportation had granted JAL a monopoly on international scheduled flights, which remained intact until 1986. ANA was allowed to operate international charter flights: its first was a 727 charter from Tokyo to Hong Kong on February 3, 1971.

ANA purchased its first widebody aircraft, six Lockheed L-1011s, in November 1972, following a lengthy sales effort by Lockheed which had involved negotiations between US president Richard Nixon, Japanese premier Kakuei Tanaka and UK premier Edward Heath (lobbying in favor of engine maker Rolls-Royce). Tanaka also pressed Japanese regulators to permit ANA to operate on Asia routes as part of the package. The aircraft entered service on the Tokyo-Okinawa route in 1974. The carrier had initially ordered McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, but cancelled the order at the last minute and switched to Lockheed. It was later revealed that Lockheed had indirectly bribed Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka to force this switch: the ensuing scandal led to the arrest of Tanaka and several managers from ANA and Lockheed sales agent Marubeni for corruption.

Boeing 747s were introduced on the Tokyo-Sapporo and Tokyo-Fukuoka routes in 1978, and Boeing 767s were introduced on Shikoku routes in 1983.

International era

In 1986, ANA began to expand beyond Japan's key domestic carrier to become a competitive international carrier as well. On 3 March 1986, ANA started scheduled international flights with a passenger service from Tokyo to Guam. Flights to Los Angeles and Washington followed by year's end, and ANA also entered a service agreement with American Airlines to feed the US carrier's new flights to Narita.

ANA expanded its international services gradually: to Beijing, Dalian, Hong Kong and Sydney in 1987; to Seoul in 1988; to London and Saipan in 1989; to Paris in 1990 and to New York in 1991. Airbus equipment such as the A320 and A321 was added to the fleet in the early 1990s, as was the Boeing 747-481 jet. ANA joined the Star Alliance in October 1999.

2004 saw ANA's profits exceed JAL's for the first time. That year, facing a surplus of slots due to the construction of new airports and the ongoing expansion of Haneda, ANA announced a fleet renewal plan that would replace some of its large aircraft with a greater number of smaller aircraft.

Also in 2004, ANA set up low-cost subsidiary Air Next to operate flights from Fukuoka Airport starting in 2005, and became the majority shareholder in Nakanihon Airline Service (NAL) headquartered in Nagoya Airport. In 2005, ANA renamed NAL to Air Central, and relocated its headquarters to Chubu Centrair International Airport.

On July 12 2005, ANA reached a deal with NYK to sell its 27.6% share in Nippon Cargo Airlines a joint venture formed between the two companies in 1987. The sale allowed ANA to focus on developing its own cargo division.

In 2006, ANA, Japan Post, Nippon Express, and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines founded ANA & JP Express (AJV), which would operate freighters. ANA is the top shareholder of AJV. It absorbed Air Japan's freighter operations.

Air Transport World named ANA its 2007 "Airline of the Year", and the airline has been recognised by FlightOnTime.info as the most punctual scheduled airline between London and Tokyo for the last four consecutive years, based on official UK CAA statistics.

ANA planned to launch ANA Business Jet on 25 March 2007 as an extension of its business class offering, using Boeing 737-700ER aircraft configured with 48 seats in two classes. The two aircraft would initially be used on daily services between Nagoya and Guangzhou. Additionally, ANA will also use this jet to fly between Tokyo and Mumbai, in a configuration utilizing 36 seats.

Destinations

See full article: All Nippon Airways destinations

ANA's route network extends through Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe. Its key international hub is Narita International Airport, where it shares the South Wing of Terminal 1 with its Star Alliance partners.

Fleet

The ANA fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2007):

 All Nippon Airways Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(First/Business/Premium Economy/Economy) 		Routes Notes
Airbus A320-200 33 166 (166)
110 (20/90) 		Short-medium haul Some operated for Air Nippon
Boeing 737-500 25 126 or 133 Short-medium haul Operated for Air Nippon (17)/Air Next (8)
Boeing 737-700 10
(30 orders) 		118-136
120 (8/112) (50" Premium Class domestic/Club ANA Asia international) 		Short-medium haul Operated for Air Nippon
118 seats on Asian routes with Premium Economy Asia (18/100); 136 seats on domestic routes
120-seat configuration: New Premium Class seating
Boeing 737-700ER 5 38 (38 Club ANA)
48 (24 Club ANA/24 Economy) 		Narita-Mumbai, Nagoya-Guangzhou (NGO-CAN suspended until April) ANA Business Jet (Operated for Air Nippon)
Boeing 747-400 8 287 (10/75/20/182) (Narita-Frankfurt or Paris)
Long haul
Boeing 747-400D 11 569 (27/542) (38" Premium Class) High-capacity domestic General Electric CF6 engines
Boeing 767-300 33 216
279 (12/267) (38" Premium Class) 		Medium haul and domestic
Boeing 767-300ER 21
(3 orders) 		216 Medium-long haul Operated for Air Japan/Air Nippon
Boeing 777-200 16 415 (21/394) (38" Premium Class)
405 (21/384) (50" Premium Class)
382 (12/370)
234 (12/222) 		High-capacity domestic
Boeing 777-200ER 7 223 Long haul
Boeing 777-300 7 524 (21/503) (38" Premium Class)
514 (21/493) (50" Premium Class) 		High-capacity domestic
Boeing 777-300ER 8
(5 orders) 		247 (8/77/24/138) Long haul (Narita - USA and London)
Boeing 787-3 (30 orders) Short-medium haul Launch customer
Boeing 787-8 (20 orders) Long haul Launch customer
Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 5 74 Regional Operated for Air Nippon Network (A-net)
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 13
(4 orders) 		56 Regional Operated for Air Nippon Network (A-net)/Air Central
Fokker 50 3 50 or 56 Regional Operated for Air Central
First Class and Premium Economy is available on selected international flights. Domestic business class is branded as "Super Seat Premium"; to be re-named "Premium Class" with enhanced services (and increased seat pitch on selected flights and aircraft) on April 2008; international business class is branded as "Club ANA."

ANA operates 9 specially painted jets: 3 Pokémon jets (2 Boeing 747-481D and a Boeing 767-381 for domestic service), 4 Star Alliance jets, and one Woody jet in affiliation with USJ, the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka Recently, a Boeing 767-318ER has been painted in a special panda themed livery ("Fly Panda"), celebrating the 20th anniversary of flying service between Japan and China.

Retired fleet

The average age of All Nippon Airways fleet is 10.3 years as of April 2006.

ANA will be the launch customer for the new Boeing widebody, the Boeing 787, ordering 50 examples with an option for 50 more during April 2004. Deliveries will begin in 2008. ANA has split the order between 30 of the short-range 787-3 and 20 of the long haul 787-8 and during October 2004 announced it had selected Rolls-Royce to supply the engines. The aircraft will allow new routes to be opened to mid-sized cities not previously served, such as Denver and Montreal. This move is part of ANA's continuing plan to become an all-Boeing airline. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the first Boeing 787 to launch customer ANA in May 2008.

On 17 February, 2005, ANA signed a contract for an additional four Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, bringing the order total for that model to ten, the first of which was delivered in October 2004. Seven 777-300s (all of which were delivered), twenty 777-200s (fourteen of which have been delivered), and seven 777-200ERs (six of which have been delivered) were also ordered, according to Air International (April 2005). The airline has contracted for three A320s and is in the process of leasing two others as a temporary measure until their 737-700 deliveries are complete. Thereafter, A320s will be withdrawn for domestic service but will remain in the fleet. Five A320-200s were ordered to serve Chinese routes because they could carry Unit Load Devices (containers) while B737s could not.

ANA announced on January 31, 2006, that it would be converting two of its previously ordered 737-700s to 737-700ERs, thus becoming the launch customer of this longest-range version of the 737.

ANA announced on March 6, 2007 that it had ordered 4 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft as part of its continued fleet expansion.

Originally, there was more than one YS-11 in the All Nippon Airways fleet, although most of the YS-11's were used under the name of ANK, or Air Nippon, a subsidiary of All Nippon Airways. Most all of these YS-11's are in museums, or otherwise scrapped or taken apart. After a final retirement process through September of 2006, all YS-11's were downed, obligated to retire, unless privately owned and were privately renovated. The YS-11 was a big part of All Nippon Airways back in the 1970s to the early 1990s, when it was used as a domestic carrier throughout the Japanese industry of flight.

ANA flew their last flight of their Airbus A321 on February 29, 2008, which was flight 864 from Hakodate to Tokyo Haneda, arriving at Haneda at 20:25 (8:25 p.m.). This marked the end of almost 10 years of operation of the Airbus A321, in which ANA was the first and the only customer in the country of Japan to operate this kind of aircraft.

Codeshare agreements

As of November 30, 2007, All Nippon Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines :

Note: This list includes Star Alliance partners.

Subsidiaries

ANA Group is a group of companies which are wholly or primarily owned by ANA. It comprises :

Airlines

General Aviation

  • All Nippon Helicopter (dedicated for the public broadcaster NHK.)

Freight and airmail

ANA Cargo

ANA Cargo is the brand of ANA Group's freight service. As of June 2007, domestically it offers 937 daily flights on 135 routes. Internationally it offers 704 weekly flights to 28 destinations by ANA and ANA & JP Express. In the fiscal year ended on 31 March 2007 it earned 30,574 milion yens (Mys) from freight and 8,936 Mys from airmail domestically as well as 62,195 Mys from freight and 3,438 Mys from airmail internationally.

It owns four Boeing 767-300F freighters as well as is wet leasing two Boeing 767-200S from ABX Air. Passenger aircraft carry other freights.

ANA and Nippon Cargo Airlines

ANA was a founding (1978) and one of the two co-leading (27.5-percent each) shareholders of Nippon Cargo Airlines, with shipping company Nippon Yusen. But in 2005 ANA sold its all stake to the co-leading partner. The technical partnership is continuing.

Incidents and accidents

  • ANA's first crash occurred in 1958, when a Douglas DC-3, registration , crashed.
  • In 1958, dynamite was planted in another ANA DC-3 by Akira Emoto, a candy salesman, as part of a suicide plan. Emoto killed himself by leaping from the aircraft and the bombs failed to detonate.
  • In 1960, another Douglas DC-3, registration , was lost.
  • In 1966, an ANA Boeing 727 was landing in Tokyo when it crashed into Tokyo Bay, with the loss of all passengers and an ANA YS-11 crashed shortly afterward in Matsuyama.
  • On July 30 1971, Flight 58, a Boeing 727, registration , collided with a JASDF F-86 Sabre fighter stationed at Matsushima Air Base.
  • On June 22, 1995 a man who called himself "Fumio Kujimi" and registered for an ANA flight as "Saburo Kobayashi," hijacked an ANA flight after it took off from Tokyo. The plane landed in Hokkaido, and police stormed the aircraft, arresting the hijacker.
  • In 1999, a man hijacked Flight 61 and killed the pilot. He was subdued by other crew members, and nobody else on the airplane was hurt.
  • On 13 March 2007, Flight 1603, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft, bound from Osaka to Kōchi, nose-landed safely at Kochi airport after the front wheel of the plane failed to deploy. None of the 53 passengers or 4 crew were injured. Bombardier advised all operators to inspect the nose landing-gear mechanism of the aircraft.

References

External links




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Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 16:24:56 PDT (GMT -0700)
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