All Nippon Airways (ANA) will focus on using its partnerships with other carriers and its own network growth to tap the potential of the Asia-Pacific market.
Speaking on 8 February, the airline’s president and chief executive Yuji Hirako said equity investments by its parent company ANA Holdings (ANA HD) in other carriers will enable the airline "to solidify our strategy" in the region.
"We're going to establish routes that we will operate on our own, and through partnerships. We'll be able to merge or integrate each other's strategies, so that we can attack this market together more strongly," says Hirako.
The comments were made on the sidelines of an event to mark ANA HD’s purchase of a 9.5% stake in Philippine Airlines’ parent company PAL Holdings. It is the second strategic stake the ANA group has made in a Southeast Asian carrier after acquiring an 8.8% stake in Vietnam Airlines in 2016.
ANA HD has also attempted to invest in two carriers in Myanmar in recent years, but with no success.
In 2014, it called off plans to invest in Asian Wings Airways after the two parties were unable to reach an agreement. Meanwhile, an attempt to invest in Asian Blue Aviation fell through in 2017, after the start-up failed to secure an air operator’s certificate.
On its own part, ANA is planning to launch flights from Tokyo Narita to Perth on 1 September, and from Narita to Chennai during the winter schedule.
ANA HD president and chief executive Shinya Katanozaka adds that recent orders for 20 Boeing 737 Max 8s for ANA and 18 Airbus A320neo family aircraft for budget unit Peach will help to ramp up the group’s growth in Asia.
"We're going to use small sized, long-range aircraft in this area. We're going to offer in this area both mid-range service, including LCC and full service carrier operations," he says.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
