News
All Nippon Airways introduces world first mixed fleet flying
October 15th 2021
All Nippon Airways (ANA) pilots will be able to swap between A320s and A380s after the Japanese carrier became the world’s first operator to introduce mixed fleet flying (MFF) for the two types. Read More » Approval of the mixed fleet operations by Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau means ANA’s pilots can fly short-haul A320 routes and long-haul A380 operations. MFF allows pilots to be certified to operate more than one type of Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft on a regular and concurrent basis. This also gives airlines the scope to better match capacity with passenger demand and swap differently sized aircraft at short notice without crew scheduling problems. The European manufacturer said the concept extends into the passenger cabin and the unique level of technical commonality between Airbus aircraft also streamlines maintenance procedures, resulting in significantly reduced costs. “MFF offers airlines increased flexibility and cost-efficiency and has become one of the keys to Airbus’ success,’’ said Airbus Japan president Stéphane Ginoux. “For airlines, the increase in revenue hours flown by pilots due to less standby and downtime results in a significant improvement in productivity.”
