News
All Nippon Airways orders B777Fs and signs codeshare with Alitalia
March 29th 2018
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) is looking to cash in on the rebound in air cargo in the Asia-Pacific with its order of two B777Fs from Boeing, valued at US$678 million at list prices. Read More » The new aircraft will join ANA’s fleet of 12 B767-300Fs.
“Air cargo is an essential part of global trade growth,” said vice president of corporate planning and administration at ANA Cargo, Hiroshi Sugiguchi. “We are committed to playing a critical role in further advancing Japan's economic growth through trade and these new freighter airplanes will help us accomplish our goal. ANA will ensure that our cargo operations reflect the five-star service that we have garnered over the past several years.”
In 2017, the global air cargo market grew 9%, more than double the long-term projected growth rate of 4.2%. For January, air cargo improved 8% over the same month a year ago.
“We are honored that a world-class operator such as ANA has decided to grow their cargo business with the 777 Freighter,” said senior vice president of commercial sales and marketing at Boeing, Ihssane Mournir, “This order further validates the market leadership of the 777 Freighter and its outstanding range, payload capabilities, and reliability.” The B777F has a range of 4,900 nautical miles and a payload of 102,000 kilograms.
In the past year, Boeing has received 12 B777F orders: ANA (2), Ethiopian Airlines (4), FedEx (1) and Turkish Airlines (3).
In other ANA news, the carrier has signed a commercial partnership with Alitalia including reciprocal frequent flyer benefits and codeshare flights between Japan and Italy and on selected domestic routes.
From October 28, ANA will place its ‘NH’ designator on each of Alitalia’s daily flights between both Milan and Rome and Tokyo’s Narita. The Japanese airline will add its code on Alitalia’s domestic services from Rome to Milan, Turin, Florence, Naples, Bologna and Venice.
Conversely, Alitalia will place its ‘AZ’ designator on ANA domestic routes from Narita to Fukuoka, Osaka Itami, Okinawa, Sendai and Sapporo.
The two carriers said they were looking to add additional codeshares “in the near future”. “Both carriers acknowledge the Japan-Italy market to be important as the travel demand between Japan and Italy is steadily growing,” they said.
