TokyoTomo Travel Guide

All Nippon Airways (NH) on February 24 announced its “FY2011-12 ANA Group Corporate Strategy,” centering once again its efforts on the international passenger business segment to keep growing as a global airline. The airline is targeting its consolidated operating revenues for fiscal year 2012 by 14 percent, compared to FY2010, to 1,570 billion yen. In terms of international passenger operating revenues, ANA aims to achieve 387 billion yen, up by 36.3 percent. When the target is met, the ratio of its international passenger operating revenues in the airline’s total operating revenues from air transportation business, including both domestic passenger business and freight business, is expected to increase to 27.1 percent from 23.0 percent estimated for FY2010.

In efforts to achieve the company objective, ANA will aim to enhance its competitiveness, taking advantage of the increased number of departure and arrival slots at Haneda Airport, along with reduction of the flight operations by Japan Airlines (JL). ANA will concentrate its efforts particularly on the Asian region where robust growth is expected. Taking delivery of the Boeing B787 during FY2011-12, the airline plans to introduce the new aircraft on its long-haul international routes out of Haneda Airport. Also, ANA will build up a new route network which is expected to boost its passenger convenience and lead to a profit increase by joint venture with the Star Alliance, and besides, it aims to maximize its profitability by implementing the joint global marketing, joint fares and joint sales.

Furthermore, capitalizing on the website-based sales, ANA anticipates attracting more non-Japanese markets and new customer segments as well. In terms of in-flight services, ANA plans to introduce, during fiscal year 2011, the aircraft installed with “ANA BUSINESS STAGGERED” seats on the airline’s six routes from Japan to Europe and to the United States and the aircraft with “ANA BUSINESS CRADLE” seats on its six to seven routes from Japan to Asian routes.

Aims to Acquire Five-Star Airline Rating from Skytrax to Become “Asia’s No. 1 Carrier”

ANA’s company strategy positions its FY2011-12 period as “the two years whereby the airline will re-engineer its business structure to adapt to the ever-changing business environment.” And then, ANA will strive to grow in order to keep its commitment to becoming Asia’s No.1 airline, which is the airline’s corporate vision, based on the pillars of “enhanced business efficiency by maximizing management resources” and “improved basic quality and customer satisfaction.”

Under these pillars, ANA will concentrate on maintaining and enhancing the airline’s four “basic qualities”, namely, “safety,” “on-time performance,” “quality and customer satisfaction” and “CSR (corporate social responsibility).” In terms of the quality and customer satisfaction, for example, ANA endeavors to acquire the five-star airline rating from Skytrax. Besides, the airline will carry out a review of the productivity improvement program and the existing group management system as well.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

All Nippon Airways’ corporate plan for its fiscal year 2011 will see a 17.4 percent year-on-year international capacity increase in terms of available seat kilometers, ASK. Initially, ANA anticipated boosting its capacity by more than 20 percent, but a further delay of the delivery of Boeing B787 compelled the airline to revise its original capacity plan downward. Nevertheless, the airline plans to proactively expand operations by launching Narita/Chengdu and other routes as well as its respective routes from and to Haneda Airport.

ANA’s international passenger services will see a launch of a daily flight between Tokyo’s Narita and Chengdu in China from June 19. Aircraft to be put into service is Boeing B737-700 configured with 8 Business class and 112 Economy class seats. The airline also plans to increase flight frequency on its Beijing and Shanghai routes from and to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport subject to the aviation agreement to be concluded between Japan and China. The Narita/Beijing and Narita/Taipei’s Taoyuan routes will receive larger aircraft when ANA takes a delivery of additional Boeing B767-300ERs. Its Narita/Shenyang route will get additional flights as well. The airline will continue to add services with the new passenger seats which have been introduced earlier on Boeing B777-300ERs on the Europe and America routes. Newly designed Boeing B767-300ER aircraft will be also equipped with the new seats in an effort to improve product and service, primarily on its Southeast Asia route.

Also, a joint venture business with United Airlines (UA) and Continental Airlines (CO) is slated to start on April 1, 2011. Following the implementation of the joint venture, the airlines will integrate their respective route networks and fares and make adjustments to their respective flight schedules as well. The target routes will be Trans-Pacific and the respective airline’s beyond routes which include routes both from Narita and Haneda, Kansai/San Francisco, Hong Kong/Chicago, Hong Kong/San Francisco and Incheon/San Francisco.

Domestically, ANA will temporally use aircraft take-off and landing slots available and optimize its flight frequency adding daily seven roundtrips until the aviation agreement is concluded between Japan and China. With the effective aircraft utilization, the airline plans to add an early morning flight to the Haneda/Osaka’s Itami route.

Meanwhile, ANA plans to increase available seat kilometers (ASK) by 102.6 percent on its domestic routes. The capacity increase, however, does not include that of a low-cost carrier (LCC) to be launched by the airline later this year.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

Japan Airlines Corporation. (JALS), Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd (JALI) and JAL Capital Co., Ltd (JLC) submitted the rehabilitation plan on August 31 to the Tokyo District Court. The rehabilitation plan includes the business plan implementing Japan Airlines’ effective fleet plan and its complete withdrawal from the money-losing routes. At the press briefing held later on the same day, Kazuo Inamori, Chairman of Japan Airlines Corporation said, “We regret that we, Japan Airlines have caused enormous concerns to the shareholders and financial institutions.” “Today is the start of Japan Airlines’ restructuring,” continued Chairman Inamori, citing, “We must strive to work hard with untiring efforts according to the business plan and we must even post better results than we are targeting.” He also emphasized, “Japan Airlines must struggle to proceed with the proposed rehabilitation plan so that it should never end up as ‘a pie in the sky’.”

The business plan formulated includes the complete pullout from the unprofitable routes, changes of the cost structures, concentration of the managerial resources on the air transportation business, personnel downsizing, increase of the route profitability, organizational reform and capability to deal with event risks such as the financial crisis and the outbreak of the H1N1 new influenza seen during the past year. Japan Airlines endeavors to realize early rehabilitation of business by aiming for an operating profit as early as in 2010, which is the initial year of the airline’s rehabilitation plan, and by eliminating its excessive liabilities.  Read more…