ANA Cargo has entered the 16th year of freighter operations.
The carrier inaugurated its freighter services 15 years ago with the first Boeing 767-300 freighter in Japan, flying two round trips a day between Tokyo Narita and Qingdao.
“Until then, ANA’s cargo was a secondary business, utilizing passenger flights’ belly space, but when seeing the active, strong cargo demand in China and other Asian markets, we thoroughly had an internal study whether or not to operate freighters on our own, and eventually came to a positive conclusion,” said Toshiaki Toyama [second from left in photo], president of ANA Cargo, speaking at a celebratory event in Shanghai to mark the anniversary. “Ever since, we, ANA, have been expanding our destinations in China, such as Hong Kong, Tianjin, Dalian, Xiamen, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and our current freighter network covers seven cities and airports in China with 64 weekly flights. On the other hand, effectively combining our freighter space with our passenger flights, with 214 weekly flights operating to 11 Chinese cities and 12 airports, enables us to establish a competitive air cargo transportation network to cope with various market needs.”
ANA is the only Japanese carrier with both passenger and freighter aircraft, and was ranked 10th in the world according to the International Air Transport Association’s 2016 rankings for air cargo tonnage.
“In 2009, we established our Okinawa cargo hub in Naha, a 24-hour airport,” said Yutaka Ito [right in photo], chairman of ANA Cargo. “Presently possessing 12 767 freighters, ANA Cargo is to also effectively utilize ANA group’s passenger route network as a combination carrier, aiming to become an airline integrator. ANA Cargo is to further expand its network to cope with the increasing cross border e-commerce business between Japan and China, and develop new value-added or high-quality services so as to meet the customers’ requirements.”
According to Masahiro Yoshida, vice president of ANA’s regional headquarters for cargo in China, approximately 40% of ANA’s cargo from China is destined for Japan, while the remaining 60% is either bound for Asia via Okinawa or bound for Europe, India, Oceania or the US via Tokyo. Commodities carried include perishables such as eels and mushrooms, apparel, computer-related electronic components and automobile parts.
Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports are expected to increase their landing and takeoff slots in 2020, creating opportunities for network and service growth, according to ANA Cargo.
