ANA upgrade inflight offering to enhance passenger satisfaction and comfort

All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan's largest and 5-star airline for six consecutive years, will be undergoing a series of comprehensive enhancements designed to improve passenger comfort and satisfaction on all international routes.

"At ANA, we strive to bring the best of Japan to the world while providing top-tier service that goes beyond even the loftiest expectations," said Yutaka Ito, Executive Vice President of ANA. "We want to ensure that travellers, especially on long-haul flights arrive at their destination refreshed and ready to achieve their goals, whether they are travelling for business or pleasure. We will take whatever steps are necessary to keep ANA at the forefront of comfort and convenience for international travellers."

Modernized In-flight Dining Experience

ANA will modernize in-flight dining by expanding options for passengers to select meals prior to departure. Until now, only ANA Mileage Club members travelling on Business Class were able to pre-order their meals, and their choices were limited to options from Japanese cuisine or international cuisine. Starting from March 1, all Business Class passengers will be able to select their meals on the ANA website up to 24 hours before departure. Travellers will be able to choose from several international cuisine options as well as a selection of Japanese cuisine.

ANA to expand fleet with orders for 48 narrow body aircraft

Japan's 5 star airline, ANA has indicated the latest in a series of expansion moves will be the order of 48 narrow body aircraft, which includes 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 18 Airbus A320neo. 

The new aircraft are schedule to be delivered between 2021 and 2025 as demand in the Asian aviation market and inbound tourist demand has increased dramatically.  ANA and Peach Aviation each selected its own optimum aircraft to fit its strategy to grow even further in future. The specific markets that will be served by the new order have not been finalised.

ANA invests $95 million in Philippine Airlines

All Nippon Airways has announced it is further enhancing its investment portfolio by taking a small chunk of Philippine Airlines (PAL) the group confirmed this week. Japan's largest and highly regarded full service carrier says it will invest $95 million US dollars in PAL Holdings 

The major investment by ANA heralds the dawn of a new era of growth for PAL, which has already embarked on a mass full-scale expansion programme that has seen its fleet and network grow to almost 100 aircraft serving 80 destinations in four continents. This period of growth has coincided with an emphasis on updating and enhancing its product,both in-flight and on the ground. That programme of improvements has already proved successful as PAL was recently recognised as the World's Most Improved Airline for 2019.

Shinya Katanozaka, President and CEO of ANA HOLDINGS INC., said: "Asia is a key growth market and we believe Philippine Airlines is in an excellent operational position to capitalize on both the strong uptick in air traffic growth as well as the vibrant, expanding Philippine economy. We look forward to expanding our business relationship with Philippine Airlines so we can continue to serve our passengers even better."

ANA to test autonomous bus at Haneda Airport

All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan's largest and 5-star airline for six consecutive years, is beginning the second stage of testing for an autonomous, driverless bus at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

ANA is conducting these trials with Aichi Steel, SB Drive Corp., Advanced Smart Mobility Co., Ltd., NIPPO CORPORATION, and NEC Corporation. Together, these companies will begin testing the autonomous bus today in a series of trials running through Jan. 25, 2019. The test will be conducted with an autonomous driving technique equivalent to Level 3*1 and will be limited to the restricted area of Haneda Airport where aircraft and cargo vehicles are located. If these trials are successful, ANA aims to implement the driverless bus technology into the airport by 2020. 

*1 Level 3 means that the autonomous system is operating, but when the system is unable to respond correctly, a human driver in the vehicle can take over the driving.

"At ANA, we are constantly striving to move the industry forward," Shigeru Hattori, Senior Vice President of ANA. "This autonomous bus will help ease the flow of traffic in the airport and help enhance the traveling experience for passengers. In addition to boosting convenience, the autonomous bus will also allow for safer travel within the airport and we will continue the tests until the technology reaches our high safety grade."

The first phase of testing was conducted in February 2018 in partnership with SB Drive Corp. In addition to ANA’s trials at Haneda this time, testing will also take place at Narita, Sendai, and Nagoya airports by other companies.

ANA to Begin Direct Flights Connecting Tokyo and Perth

All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan's largest and 5-star airline for six consecutive years, will begin offering services between Tokyo and Perth, Australia in September 2019. The flight will be based out of Narita International Airport and offer direct services to Perth, Australia's fourth largest city. This makes ANA the first Japanese carrier to fly to Perth from Japan on a regular basis.

Japan has been an attractive destination for people in Australia and will attract even more visitors with the upcoming Rugby World Cup in Japan next year. Furthermore, its location in the northern hemisphere gives it a different seasonal pattern from Australia, boosting tourism appeal for travellers looking to escape winter blues or the summer heat. The flight also will appeal to business travellers as economic ties are on the rise between Japan and Australia. ANA expects business travel will be on the uptick in years to come.

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"We are excited to add Perth to our list of world-class destinations, and are happy to be collaborating with Tourism Western Australia, Perth Airport and Tourism Australia," said Seiichi Takahashi, Senior Vice President of ANA. "The city is celebrated worldwide as a tourist destination and economic hub, and we look forward to making it easier to travel between Tokyo and Perth."

The announcement of this new route comes as ANA is preparing to extend services to Vienna, Austria in February 2019. As ANA continues seeking to better serve consumers worldwide, it will do everything possible to expand its network to so far un-served destinations and make travelling as safe, pleasant and convenient as possible. 

ANA releases its Airbus A380 schedule and configurations

Japan's largest and 5-star airline for six consecutive years, All Nippon Airways (ANA), has announced the schedule for the first Japanese-operated Airbus A380, which will fly between Narita and Honolulu starting May 24, 2019. Sales for this flight will begin on Jan. 10, 2019 for the newly introduced First Class and ANA COUCHii in Economy Class. To celebrate this route and provide even more value for its passengers, ANA is running special campaigns for those flying Premium Economy, Economy Class and ANA COUCHii from May 24 until July 11, 2019.

ANA currently has two flights departing from Narita to Honolulu. Starting May 24, the earlier flight will be serviced by its first A380 on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Then, starting on July 1, the second A380 will start operating, and the A380 will begin servicing the earlier flight on a daily basis. The A380 will service the later flight on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays*1. This will result in a total of ten roundtrips per week serviced by the A380, all other Narita-Honolulu flights will be operated on a Boeing 787-9.

The Top Ten Airlines In The World - 2018

Skytrax held its 2018 World Airline Awards on Tuesday 17th July at The Langham Hotel, London and has published the results of a 10 month long survey period in which travellers from around the world rated airlines on a number of key areas. There were some surprises in the complete listings, for example British Airways didn't even make the top thirty and Ryanair being rated above United.

Here are the top ten 'World's Best Airlines' 

1.  Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines has long been one of the most respected travel brands around the world, therefore it is perhaps no surprise that it makes it to the top of the list in this years Skytrax awards. Singapore Airlines seems to be pleasing passengers with its impressive service, flying one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world to destinations spanning a network spread over six continents. Of course, the Singapore Girl is an internationally-recognisable icon providing the high standards of care and service that customers have come to expect of Singapore Airlines.

2.  Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways has rapidly grown to serve more than 140 destinations worldwide, offering levels of service excellence that helped the award-winning carrier to become the best in the world. Qatar Airways network spans business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America. Qatar Airways is a member of oneworld global airline alliance. Despite recent difficulties with its near neighbours and sexist remarks from its CEO, the airline is still rated highly on all levels by its passengers.

read on for the next 8.

Boeing, All Nippon Airways Finalize Order for Two 777 Freighters

Boeing and All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced the Japanese carrier has placed a new order for two 777 Freighters valued at $678 million according to list prices.

While ANA is a major operator of the 777 passenger jet, it has grown its cargo operation with the medium-sized 767 Freighter. In adding the 777 Freighter – the world's largest and longest range twin-engine cargo jet – ANA is expanding its cargo capabilities just as the air freight market keeps growing at historically high rates.

Juneyao Airlines and ANA Launch Codeshare and Frequent Flyer Partnership

Juneyao Airlines, one of the leading private-owned airlines in mainland China and the first "Connecting Partner" of Star Alliance, will launch codeshare cooperation starting from March 25, 2018 with ANA, one of the premier airlines in Japan focused on delivering excellent customer service. The codeshare cooperation mainly involves Sino-Japan trunk routes as well as beyond flights. Therefore Juneyao Airlines will benefit from the fruitful cooperation and is likely to further perfect its network in Asia, receiving opportunities to expand Japanese market and boost its internationalization, and passengers will have more choices travelling between the two neighbouring countries

ANA is ATW's Airline of the Year 2018

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has been named as ATW 2018 Airline of the Year as is the second time the airline has won the top honour in the last five years.

ATW will hand over the award at its 44th Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards Ceremony due to take place on 27th March at The Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland.  The Airline Industry Achievement Awards aims to recognize excellence across a broad range of airline operations and are considered by many as the most coveted in the air transport industry. 

To win ATW's Airline of the Year award, an airline has to demonstrate exceptional achievements as well as capabilities across operations, financial performance, customer service, safety and staff relations. The airlines' leadership must also demonstrate innovation and strategic thinking that is unique. 

"With everything from its commitment to customer service to its global partnerships and superb management, ANA showed that it stood above its competitors,” said ATW editor-in-chief Karen Walker. 

"We are honored to receive the Airline of the Year Award and to have been recognized for the dedicated efforts made at ANA," ANA president and CEO Yuji Hirako, said. "This has been a remarkable year for ANA as we continued to expand internationally, deliver the highest level of customer service and differentiate ourselves in the competitive airline industry."

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British Airways and easyJet perform well against global competition - OAG Punctuality League 2018

Six European airlines, including two from the UK - British Airways and easyJet are all featured in the top 20 for annual on-time performance (OTP) of the world’s largest airlines, according to the results of the OAG Punctuality League 2018

The OAG punctuality league tables are the aviation industry’s most comprehensive annual ranking of On-Time Performance for the world’s airlines and airports. They are compiled from analysis of around 57 million flight records 

The report from OAG, the global leader in flight information, ranks the two UK-based airlines at 10th and 15th respectively amongst the world’s largest carriers: BA with 79 percent and easyJet with 75 percent of flights both departing and arriving on time. The 2018 report also places easyJet in the top 20 low-cost carriers (LCCs) for punctuality, while Europe-based airBaltic took the top spot as the most punctual airline in the world, with over 90 percent OTP.

John Grant, Senior Analyst at OAG, said: “BA and easyJet are certainly holding their own amongst their global counterparts. In a highly competitive environment, it’s great to see the UK-based airlines reporting an impressive OTP.”

There is more on this story -  Birmingham Airport once again takes a top spot for on-time performance and London Heathrow shows strong on-time performance in new ‘Mega’ airport category

The ANA Flight to nowhere - 'unauthorised person' caused flight to turn around - after four hours!

An “unauthorised person” on an ANA flight heading for Tokyo caused the flight to turn around and go back to Los Angeles - after four hours, even though the airline knew there was nothing untoward going on other than a 'simple' mistake.

There was no security or safety threat involved, there was no danger, yet somehow, even in these days of heightened airport security that a passenger, whose identity has not yet been revealed was able after check-in to get into the departure gate area and then to actually board the flight, even past the final boarding checks and on the aircraft. The flight departed as normal and it was only after the passenger told crew four hours into the 11-hour flight that there was an issue that the airline, ANA became aware of the problem.

Why the aircraft had to turn around after four hours, even after ANA and Los Angeles Airport had worked out it was an 'innocent' mistake has not been advised to the 150 passengers onboard the flight some of which took to Twitter to comment on the situation.  American model, Chrissy Teigen, who was on the flight tweeted  “A flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isn’t supposed to be on this plane. Why...why do we all gotta go back, I do not know.”  and   “Why did we all get punished for this one person’s mistake?” she asked. “Why not just land in Tokyo and send the other person back? How is this the better idea, you ask? We all have the same questions.”

Local police confirmed it was a simple mix up, yet an investigation is underway to establish how such a mistake could take place that allows an international passenger with a ticket and boarding pass for a different airline to board the wrong flight and for it to depart. 

ANA refused to comment when we asked for a response. 

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The 10 best long-haul airlines, according to Telegraph readers

As you may have seen with the short-haul airlines, the readers of the UK's Telegraph newspaper have been offering up their opinions of airlines, both long and short haul.  This has resulted in the newspaper producing its annual awards listings of the top ten in each category.   

Swiss took the top slot in the short-haul sector which seems to be wholly deserved, with Icelandair coming in a close second. It surprised some commentators that British Airways didn't even break into the top ten this year and some are hoping for a better showing in the long-haul awards. 

Here's the top ten according to Telegraph readers. 

1   Singapore Airlines
2   Emirates
3   Qatar Airways
4   Air New Zealand
5   Virgin Atlantic
6   All Nippon Airways
7   Korean Air
8   Thai Airways International
9   Cathay Pacific
10  Etihad

Nick Trend, Telegraph Travel's consumer expert, said: "Telegraph readers are enthusiastic long-haul fliers - many of your favourite destinations are many hours away, and so this category is one of the most crucial. Singapore Airlines and Emirates have been trading places at the top of the table since 2012. Last year, Emirates took the prize, but in 2017, Singapore has wrestled it back once more."

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ANA's Myanmar Hopes Dashed

All Nippon Airways is walking away from its Myanmar plans after their application for an air operator’s certificate gets rejected by local authorities.

ANA had planned to operate a joint venture airline in the Southeast Asian country with a local property and banking backed investor Golden Sky World.    The ANA group were going to take a stake of 49 percent in the air carrier that had plans to focus on international routes.  Many see the country ripe for a massive growth in international air transportation following the recent opening of the once closed military ruled nation. 

This is not the first disappointment for ANA in the country, the first attempt to break into the local air travel market took place in  2014. However,  it halted a plan to take a 49 percent shareholding in Asian Wings Airways after local competition seemed to make such an investment too risky.

Speaking to the media, ANA's local representative Sammy Aramaki said “We can’t find a reason,” for the Myanmar's governments refusal of the licence application. “The management can’t wait for any longer,” he said, the application had been put in last May and an answer was expected no later than August. 

Interline Deal For ANA and Malindo

Photo R A Samed

 All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline has signed a new interline deal with Malindo Air of Malaysia.  The interline arrangement will afford both airlines passengers to seamless travel with the two carriers offering greater connectivity on hundreds of routes.  

Malindo Air Chief Executive Officer Chandran Rama Muthy said the airline was delighted to partner ANA and take passengers beyond the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.  “With ANA, our passengers will be connected to more than 200 global and domestic destinations through its hubs in Narita and Haneda,” he said in a statement to mark the deal signing this week, adding "At the same time, this will increase the number of transit passengers at KLIA. Our extensive route network provides better options for passengers who travel for both the business and leisure segments,” he added.

ANA is the fifth addition to Malindo Air’s interline partners, after Turkish Airline, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Oman Air. The airline flies to over 46 cities - including 12 major Malaysian destinations.

ANA's Special A380 Livery

All Nippon Airways has unveiled the livery that will adorn its first Airbus A380.

The ‘Flying Honu’ livery, by Tokyo resident Chihiro Masuoka, was picked from an open design competition. It features the Hawaiian green sea turtle, which the airline says is a sign of prosperity and good luck.The Star Alliance carrier says that it is moving ahead with the interior design of its A380s, which will “offer new passenger services” when it starts operation on the Tokyo-Honolulu route from the northern spring of 2019.

ANA has three A380s on order, scheduled for delivery in May, June and September 2019.

ANA Confirms Boeing Order.

A massive order for Boeing has come from All Nippon Airways this week when the asia airline selected 20 777-9Xs, 14 787-9 Dreamliners and six 777-300ERs from the American manufacturer as part of the airlines ongoing strategic long-haul fleet renewal plan.

The massive order is valued around  US$13billion based on list prices and  was originally announced back in March as an option.  ANA President and CEO, Shinichiro Ito, said, “The aircraft we have selected will enable us to modernise and expand our fleet further.  These new aircraft will give us maximum flexibility and improved fuel efficiency, and will allow us to meet the growth in demand, both internationally and in our domestic Japanese market.”

ANA, has shown faith in the 787, not only was it the launch airline of the type, but it ha so far ordered 80 examples of the Dreamliner, 29 are already in the fleet, with  51 more awaiting delivery. 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO, Ray Conner, added: “This order from ANA demonstrates the strength of our 50-year partnership.”

More 787 Dreamliner Problems

 

 

It has been confirmed that a brake problem forced an All Nippon Airways flight to be cancelled in Japan  - the third glitch in as many days involving a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

It was scheduled to fly from the Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan to Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

But the domestic flight was grounded by Japan's ANA because brake parts to the rear left undercarriage needed replacing, a spokesman at Yamaguchi Ube Airport said.

An ANA spokeswoman said: "In the cockpit, an error message related to its brake system was displayed.

"The exact nature and the cause of the error message is not clear yet."

All 98 passengers on board were switched to another flight for Tokyo.

On Tuesday, a Japan Airlines jet was grounded at Boston Logan International Airport in the US following a fuel leak, a day after another plane of the same type suffered a fire.

About 40 gallons (150 litres) of fuel spilled from the jet that was supposed to be bound for Tokyo from Boston last night.

On Monday, smoke was spotted in the cabin and cockpit of a JAL Boeing 787