(), also known as or , is an airline headquartered in
Tokyo ,
Japan . Formerly Japan's largest domestic carrier, it is now the country's second-largest domestic and international carrier, after
Japan Airlines (its current main competitor).
ANA's main international hub is at
Narita International Airport outside
Tokyo . Its alternate International hub is at
Kansai International Airport in southern
Osaka ,
Japan . Its main domestic hubs are at
Tokyo International Airport ,
Osaka International Airport ,
Chubu International Airport (near
Nagoya ), and
New Chitose Airport (near
Sapporo ).
ANA's associate companies in Tokyo include
Air Nippon , ANA's
Regional Airline , and
Air Japan , which handles charter flights for ANA. In 2004, ANA set up a low-cost subsidiary,
Air Next , to operate flights from
Fukuoka Airport starting in
2005 . Also in 2004, ANA became the majority shareholder in Nakanihon Airline Service (NAL) headquartered in
Nagoya Airport and in 2005 renamed and relocated it to
Air Central headquartered in
Chubu Centrair International Airport .
The airline was established on
27 December 1952 as Nippon Helicopter and Aeroplane. In February
1953 ,
Helicopter services were started and passenger charter flights were inaugurated on
15 December 1953 . A new and profitable route started in
1955 when an inaugural cargo flight began service to
Osaka from
Tokyo . That same year, the
Douglas DC-3 plane began flying for Japan Helicopters and Aeroplane, and in
1957 , the airline changed its name to All Nippon Airways (ANA). On
1 December 1957 , Far Eastern Airlines, a small competitor, merged with ANA, bringing the airline's total
Market Capitalization to 600 million
Yen .
The s, and in
1969 , ANA introduced
Boeing 737 service.
livery]]
The
1970s saw the beginning of ANA's
Internationalization .
February 3 of
1971 in particular was a historic date for the airline, when ANA inaugurated its first international service, a charter flight from Tokyo to
Hong Kong . The
Lockheed L-1011 was introduced in
1973 ,
Boeing 747 s in
1978 , and
Boeing 767 s in
1983 .
In
1986 , ANA started scheduled international flights with a passenger service from Tokyo to
Guam . Soon after, many cities such as
Frankfurt ,
New York ,
Los Angeles ,
London and
Paris were added. ANA continued its expansion of services all over
Asia ,
North America and
Europe during the
1990 's, and
Airbus equipment such as the
A320 and
A321 was added to the fleet, as was the
Boeing 747-481 jet. In
1994 , ANA started service to
Kansai International Airport and in October
1999 , it joined the
Star Alliance .
After the
September 11 Attacks of
2001 , an ANA 747 flying from
Dulles International Airport in
Virginia , near
Washington D.C. to
Narita ,
Japan became the first plane to fly in the
United States once the grounding of all planes in US territory was declared over by President
George W. Bush 's government.
In
2004 , facing a surplus of slots due to the construction of new airports and the expansion of Haneda, ANA announced a fleet renewal plan that would replace some of its large aircraft with a greater number of smaller aircraft.
{Link without Title}
On
July 12 ,
2005 , ANA reached a deal with
NYK to sell its 27.6% share in
Nippon Cargo Airlines , in order to pursue its own cargo division expansion. NYK is the major shareholder of
Nippon Cargo Airlines .
The airline employs 12,277 staff (at January 2005).
ANA has, along with most large airlines, a very safe flight record. Since 1971, ANA has had no fatal accidents.
- ANA's first crash occurred in 1958 , when a Douglas DC-3 , registration JA5045, crashed.
- In 1960 , another DC-3, registration JA5018, was lost.
- In 1966 , an ANA Boeing 727 was landing in Tokyo when it crashed into Tokyo Bay , with the loss of all passengers.
- An ANA YS-11 crashed shortly afterward.
- In March of 1971 , a Boeing 727 , registration JA8329, collided with a JASDF F-86 fighter stationed at Matsushima Air Base.
- In 1999 , a man hijacked All Nippon Airways Flight 61 and killed the pilot. He was subdued by other crew members, and nobody else on the airplane was hurt.
''See full article:''
in ANA livery]]
The ANA fleet consists of the following aircraft (at January 2006):
The average age of All Nippon Airways fleet is 10.3 years old in April 2006.
ANA became the launch customer for the new
Boeing widebody, the
787 , ordering 50 examples with an option for 50 more during April 2004. Deliveries will begin in 2008. ANA has split the order between 30 of the short-range 787-300 and 20 of the long haul 787-800 and during October 2004 announced it had selected Rolls-Royce to supply the engines. This move is part of ANA's continuing plan to become an all-Boeing airline.
On
17 February 2005 ANA signed a contract for a further 4 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, to add to 6 previously ordered, the first of which was delivered in October 2004. Also ordered are 7 Boeing 777-300 (all delivered), 20 Boeing 777-200 (14 delivered) and 7 Boeing 777-200ER (4 delivered). (ref:Air International April 2005)
ANA has also signed a contract for 3 A320s and 2 leased ones which will be temporary until they have received all Boeing 737-700. The move to replace all Airbuses in the fleet is part of ANA's strategy to become an all-Boeing operator.
On
January 31 2006 ANA announced that it has converted 2 of 45 737-700 firm order to 737-700ER. ANA is the launch customer of the longest range 737.
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- In 2006, ANA celebrated 20 years of international flights, having flown its first international route from Tokyo to Guam on March 3, 1986. {Link without Title} Mileage was doubled for the occasion until March 2006.
