Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) is joining forces with two small domestic carriers through codeshare deals that analysts say signal a continuing realignment of the local industry.
ANA said early in January that it had reached agreement with Fair Inc and Nakanihon Airline Service covering codesharing on secondary domestic routes from Tokyo's Narita airport after a second runway opens in April. A "basic understanding" was agreed in November but final terms have yet to be worked out as slot details still need to be formalised, ANA says.
Fair Inc, which operates Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets, is likely to use its Narita slots to launch services to Sendai and Sapporo. Nakanihon, which operates Fokker 50s and is 20%-owned by ANA, will launch services between Narita and its Nagoya base.
Although ANA has only aligned itself with two small carriers, many believe it is working to expand its domestic base in part as a result of merger plans unveiled late last year by main competitors Japan Airlines (JAL) and Japan Air System (JAS). These two will have a domestic market share of around 48%, roughly equal to that of ANA.
ANA fears that the enlarged airline will dominate the market, however, as JAL has a much larger international network than ANA and a combined JAL/JAS will operate on far more domestic trunk routes. In mid-January ANA wrote to the Japanese Fair Trade Commission formally objecting to the proposed merger arguing that it would leave Japan with essentially a duopoly market. The Commission is expected to make its ruling during the first half of the year.
Japan early in 2000 completed a nearly 15-year-long phased deregulation programme that led to the launch in 1998 of the first new independently owned airlines in more than 30 years, namely Skymark Airlines and Air Do. The third new-start, Fair Inc, began operating in 2000.
Source: Airline Business
