All Nippon Airways and Nippon Cargo Airlines have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a strategic business partnership in order to enhance the service and corporate value of the two airlines.

According to the two carriers, the partnership will involve codeshare, block space agreements and maintenance support, offering added value and a seamless logistics experience to customers.

During the first half of the next fiscal year, which starts on April 1, 2018, ANA and NCA plan to add codeshares to each other’s flights, offering a broad network of flights and a wider range of choices for customers. This will leverage the synergy of ANA’s Boeing 767F operations around Asia and NCA’s 747 freighter operations to North America and Europe.

ANA Cargo also plans to introduce at least two 777Fs into its own fleet under ANA’s mid-term corporate strategy for fiscal years 2018-2022.

In addition, ANA and NCA will expand their existing interline and block space agreements with the aim of effectively utilizing each other’s cargo capacity and providing reliable and convenient connections.

The partnership will also see ANA allocating maintenance resources to support NCA’s operations, allowing for active sharing of knowledge and enhancement of the technical abilities of both carriers, according to ANA.