Summary
- Industrial aviation in Asia lags behind the US and Europe on account of travel restrictions in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
- ANA shows positive signs of recovery with a big increase in international passengers and a more moderate increase in domestic passengers in November 2023.
- ANA has signed a codeshare agreement with ITA Airways, allowing passengers to travel with a single ticket and revel in seamless connectivity on each carriers.
Industrial aviation in Asia is a few yr behind the US and Europe in its post-pandemic recovery, and most of that’s attributed to the very strict and prolonged lockdowns and travel restrictions in China. While such measures have bordered on the draconian, other nations in Northeast Asia have also been impeded by restrictions, including Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Good signs for ANA in 2024
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) is steadily constructing momentum in its post-COVID recovery, as evidenced by its latest November 2023 Traffic Results, released this past week. In November, ANA carried 597,074 international passengers, a rise of 158% over November 2022, consistent with nearly doubling international year-on-year traffic reported between January and November 2023.
Photo: Omid Behzadpour | Shutterstock
Domestically, ANA carried 3.17 million in November, a more sedate year-on-year increase of 107%, reflecting the stronger demand and domestic flight availability in late 2022. In total, ANA carried 3.767 million passengers in November 2023, in comparison with 4.457 million in pre-pandemic November 2019, giving an overall COVID recovery of 85%.
By comparison, ANA carried 855,000 international and three.602 million domestic passengers in November 2019 in comparison with 597,000 and three.170 million, respectively, in 2023. International traffic reached 70% and domestic 88% of 2019 levels, while 2023 passenger load aspects got here in at 78.0% and 74.8%, respectively.
ANA reports international traffic in three regions, and the November 2023 numbers and 2019 comparisons are as follows: North America 173,427 (205,829), Europe 45,515 (82,046), and Asia and Oceania 378,132 (567,580). Regarding operational aspects in November 2023, ANA operated 99.8% of international and 99.6% of domestic flights, with on-time arrivals of 85.9% and 80.4%, respectively.
Fleet data from shows that ANA has a fleet of 214 aircraft at a mean age of ten years. The one-aisle fleet includes 11 Airbus A320neos, 4 A321-200s, 22 A321neos, 39 Boeing 737-800s and 24 Boeing 767-300s. The widebody aircraft from Boeing, include ten 777-200s, five 777-300s, 13 777-300ERs, and two 777F freighters.
Photo: Airbus
ANA also boasts a formidable lineup of 81 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, including 36 787-8s, 42 -9s and three -10s. The airline can also be a colourful and enthusiastic operator of the Airbus A380 with its distinctive FLYING HONU fleet.
Recent codeshare with ITA Airways
On Friday, January 12, ANA announced a codeshare with Italian national carrier, ITA Airways (ITA). The brand new agreement, effective from January 24, allows ANA and ITA passengers to fly to their destination with a single ticket, check in at departure, and collect their checked baggage at the ultimate destination airport.
ANA and ITA travelers will enjoy seamless connectivity via the 2 airlines’ strategically situated essential hubs at Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) and Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport (FCO). Flights will go on sale from Wednesday, January 17, when ANA will apply its NH code on ITA Airways’ flights between Haneda and Rome, in addition to five destinations from Fiumicino Airport: Bologna, Venice, Turin, Florence, and Naples.
Correspondingly, ITA will add its AZ code on six Japanese domestic destinations: Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Itami, Kansai, Okinawa and Sapporo. This appears to be only the beginning of cooperation between these two carriers, with ANA and ITA seeking to expand the agreement by adding additional codes within the near future.
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