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“Nothing decided” on A380 purchase said All Nippon Airways
January 8th 2016
Japan’s largest carrier, Tokyo-based All Nippon Airways (ANA), has denied reports that parent company, ANA Holdings, has finalised a deal for three A380s, a contradiction of Nikkei Asian Review, Bloomberg and Reuters reports that claimed the airliners would be delivered from 2018 and used on flights to Hawaii to counter rival, Japan Airlines’ (JAL), dominance there. Read More »
“The story is not based on our official announcement and there is nothing decided yet. We are formulating our next mid-term corporate strategy and considering various options for airplanes as we have done so in the past,” an ANA spokesperson told Orient Aviation’s Week in the Asia-Pacific. ANA added it would announce its medium-term corporate strategy on January 29. Airbus declined to comment on the media reports.
It would not be a great surprise if ANA confirmed an A380 order, given the all-time-low oil price (US$33 at press time) makes it significantly cheaper to operate the aircraft than at first delivery in 2007. The aircraft might be a good fit for the carrier’s rapid long-haul expansion that has seen it add Houston, Sydney and San Jose to its network in recent years, with more destinations in Australia and the U.S., as well as Mexico City, on its radar, according to ANA chief, Osamu Shinobe. It is unlikely ANA would only order three A380s. Economies of scale, as cited by 380 operators such as Lufthansa and Air France, would suggest that at least ten frames would make operations, and particularly MRO, attractive.
At the Dubai Air Show in November, Airbus’ chief operating officer customers, John Leahy, said two customers were considering orders for the 380, with one looking at between ten and twelve orders, and another as many as 20 aircraft.
