Japanese airline to expand operations
Bloomberg News Service
TOKYO — All Nippon Airways Co., Japan's biggest domestic carrier, wants to triple international flights from Tokyo's Narita airport, a move that may require it to buy more aircraft next year.
The carrier aims to make Narita its base for overseas flights that have so far lost money each year since they began in 1987.
The expansion would reverse the reduction of international seats of 11 percent this year, the airline said.
"We want to increase capacity at Narita by as much as three times," All Nippon President Yoji Ohashi said in an interview. This expansion means that "from the next business year we might not have enough aircraft," he said.
All Nippon's attempt to grab more landing rights at Narita, which handles half of Japan's international air traffic, may turn up the competitive heat on rival Japan Airlines Co., which now holds a quarter of the airport's slots.
"It's a little ambitious in the short term," said Doug Hayashi, an airline analyst at HSBC Securities in Tokyo. Narrowing the gap with Japan Airlines may be risky, although to attract highöpaying business passengers, "frequency is the thing," he said.
All Nippon shares rose as much as 0.7 percent in Tokyo. Japan Airlines shares were down as much as 2.2 percent.
Both Japanese and foreign carriers are vying for extra flights when Narita's second runway opens in May in time for the start of the world cup soccer tournament being hosted by Japan and South Korea.
The new runway will increase capacity by 50 percent, with the allocation of new landing rights to be decided by the Japanese government in October.
All Nippon said it now accounts for 8 percent of Narita's passenger movements compared with 27 percent for Japan Airlines, 14 percent for Northwest Airlines Corp., and 10 percent for UAL Corp.'s United Airlines Inc. In the year to March 31, Narita had its busiest year, handling 27.7 million travelers.
All Nippon now operates 191 aircraft, making it Asia's biggest by fleet size, the carrier said. Boeing Co. is the dominant supplier, while Airbus Industries planes account for less than a quarter of the fleet.
