All Nippon Airways

All Nippon Airways (全日空 Zennikkū or 全日本空輸 Zen-nippon kūyu) (TYO: 9202) is an airline headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Formerly Japan's largest domestic carrier, it is now the country's second-largest domestic and international carrier, after Japan Airlines. lt is often known by the abbreviation ANA, which is popularly used as an acronym in Japanese.

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

ANA's associate companies in Tokyo include Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) and Air Nippon, ANA's former regional airline which now handles charter flights for ANA. In 2004, ANA set up a low-cost subsidiary, Air Next, to operate flights from Fukuoka Airport starting in 2005. Also in 2004, ANA became the majority shareholder in Nakanihon Airline Service (NAL) headquartered in Nagoya Airport and in 2005 renamed and relocated it to Air Central headquartered in Chubu Centrair International Airport.

On July 12, 2005, ANA reached a deal with NYK to sell its 27.6% share in Nippon Cargo Airlines, in order to pursue its own cargo division expansion. NYK is the major shareholder of Nippon Cargo Airlines.

Code Data

• IATA Code: NH (from its former name Nippon Helicopter)
• ICAO Code: ANA
• Callsign: All Nippon

History

The airline was established on 27 December 1952 as Nippon Helicopter and Aeroplane. In February 1953, helicopter services were started and passenger charter flights were inaugurated on 15 December 1953. A new and profitable route started in 1955 when an inaugural cargo flight began service to Osaka from Tokyo. That same year, the Douglas DC-3 plane began flying for Japan Helicopters and Aeroplane, and in 1957, the airline changed its name to All Nippon Airways (ANA). On 1 December 1957, Far Eastern Airlines, a small competitor, merged with ANA, bringing the airline's total market capitalization to 600 million yen.

The 1960s was a period of slow but unstoppable growth for the company, when they added the Vickers Viscount to the fleet in 1960, and later Fokker F27s, in 1961. 1961 marked ANA's debut at the Tokyo Stock Exchange as well as the Osaka Securities Exchange. 1963 saw another merger, this one with Fujita Airlines, raising the company's capital to 4 billion yen. In 1965, ANA introduced jet services with Boeing 727s: these were soon joined by YS-11s, and in 1969, ANA introduced Boeing 737 service.

The 1970s saw the beginning of ANA's internationalization. February 3 of 1971 in particular was a historic date for the airline, when ANA inaugurated its first international service, a charter flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong. The Lockheed L-1011 was introduced in 1973, Boeing 747s in 1978, and Boeing 767s in 1983.

In 1986, ANA started scheduled international flights with a passenger service from Tokyo to Guam. Soon after, many cities such as Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris were added. ANA continued its expansion of services all over Asia, North America and Europe during the 1990's, and Airbus equipment such as the A320 and A321 was added to the fleet, as was the Boeing 747-481 jet. In 1994, ANA started service to Kansai International Airport and in October 1999, it joined the Star Alliance.

After the September 11 attacks of 2001, an ANA 747 flying from Dulles International Airport in Virginia, near Washington D.C. to Narita, Japan became the first plane to fly in the United States once the grounding of all planes in US territory was declared over by President George W. Bush's government.

In 2004, facing a surplus of slots due to the construction of new airports and the expansion of Haneda, ANA announced a fleet renewal plan that would replace some of its large aircraft with a greater number of smaller aircraft. [1]

The airline employs 12,277 staff (at January 2005).

Incidents and Accidents

• ANA's first crash occurred in 1958, when a Douglas DC-3, registration JA5045, crashed.
• In 1960, another DC-3, registration JA5018, was lost.
• In 1966, an ANA Boeing 727 was landing in Tokyo when it crashed into Tokyo Bay, with the loss of all passengers.
• An ANA YS-11 crashed shortly afterward.
• In March of 1971, a Boeing 727, registration JA8329, collided with a JASDF F-86 fighter stationed at Matsushima Air Base.
• In 1999, a man hijacked All Nippon Airways Flight 61 and killed the pilot. He was subdued by other crew members, and nobody else on the airplane was hurt.

Destinations

See full article: All Nippon Airways destinations

Fleet

The ANA fleet consists of the following aircraft (at July 2005):

• 26 Airbus A320-200
• 7 Airbus A321-100
• 27 Boeing 737-400 & -500
• 3 Boeing 747-200
• 23 Boeing 747-400
• 52 Boeing 767-300
• 19 Boeing 777-200
• 9 Boeing 777-300
• 5 De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q300
• 9 De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400

ANA became the launch customer for the new Boeing widebody, the 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 787-381 and 20 of the long haul 787-881 and during October 2004 announced it had selected Rolls-Royce to supply the engines. This move is part of ANA's continuing plan to become an all-Boeing airline.

On 17 February 2005 ANA signed a contract for a further 4 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, to add to 6 previously ordered, the first of which was delivered in October 2004. Also ordered are 7 Boeing 777-300 (all delivered), 20 Boeing 777-200 (14 delivered) and 7 Boeing 777-200ER (4 delivered). (ref:Air International April 2005)

Subsidiaries

• Air Nippon
• Air Nippon Network (A-net)
• Air Next
• Air Japan
• Air Central (55% shareholding)
• Nippon Cargo Airlines (27.59% shareholding; to be sold by October 2005)
• ANA Cargo
• Air Hokkaido (80% shareholding)
• Skynet Asia Airways (minor shareholding)

Other Facts of Interest

• ANA is the official airline of Universal Studios Japan.

• Special painted jets: 5 Pokémon jets (a Boeing 747-481 for international service, and 3 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 [2].

• Featured in a Taito flight simulator arcade game called Landing High Japan in 1999.

External Links

• All Nippon Airways
• ANA Fleet Detail
• ANA Passenger Opinions