ANA outlines plans for incoming 777F

Japan-based combination carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) released its 2019 flight schedule, which reveals how the carrier’s first of two 777Fs it plans to take delivery of in the coming years, will be utilized in the carrier’s network.

Next summer, the carrier plans to introduce its first 777F and utilize the freighter for six-times weekly service on a rotation that connects Tokyo Narita (NRT) – Kansai (KIX) – Shanghai Pudong (PVG) – Tokyo Narita. Following route approval, ANA plans to later reposition the aircraft to boost trans-Pacific capacity ahead of peak season, with the launch of long-haul flights between Tokyo Narita and Chicago (ORD), which could begin as soon as Oct. 27.

In addition to its large fleet of passenger aircraft, and incoming 777Fs,  All Nippon Airways currently operates four 767-300Fs and eight 767-300BCFs. In addition to intra-Japan service, ANA connects Japan to Seoul, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, and many cities in mainland China, from Tokyo and Osaka, but also from its express hub in Naha, at the southern tip of the Japanese archipelago.

The fate of a February 2018 Memorandum of Understanding between All Nippon Airways and the beleaguered all-cargo carrier, Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA), which just a few months after the MoU was signed grounded its entire fleet, remains unclear. The two carriers were to expand a previously-existing interline agreement to include block space agreements and full code-sharing, with NCA gaining access to ANA’s intra-Asia freighter network and the belly space in its passenger fleet, while ANA would be able to put its code on NCA’s long-haul services to Europe and North America. We note however, that ANA’s proposed 777F routes overlap with NCA’s current route network.