ANA eyes international expansion
Friday November 21, 2008
ANA said it is considering establishing Tokyo Narita and Haneda as dual international hubs as it looks to expand its international network in coming years with the expected shrinking of the domestic market.
"Japan doesn't have a real hub like Seoul Incheon or Shanghai Pudong," VP-Network Planning Shuichi Fujimura told ATWOnline in Tokyo this week. "I want to change this so that Tokyo can compete with other hubs in the region. If we do nothing, we will lose passengers." He explained that the dual-hub strategy could make sense for Tokyo: "This depends on the time-banks. NRT could be the daytime and HND the nighttime bank airport."
Strengthening the Tokyo airports as hubs would tie into ANA's strategy for choosing new international destinations as its basic philosophy is focused on hub-to-hub operations. "We are [considering] possible new destinations like Denver, Munich or Milan Malpensa where our partner Lufthansa is starting its own operations," Fujimura said. But opening new routes depends on the global economic outlook. "We see maybe one year of global economic depression and, after that, prospects for network expansion," he said.
With a fourth runway slated to open at HND in October 2010, ANA plans to increase international frequencies and destinations. "But we will not reduce NRT," he noted. He sees a total international growth rate for the Japanese market of 4%-5% annually, which opens "a lot of opportunities for ANA."
Fujimura stressed the importance of international expansion: "Our domestic operation accounts for about 70% of total passenger revenue and so far this is stable and profitable. But things are changing. With more high-speed Shinkansen trains to come. . .[the trains] are taking away passengers." In addition, most Japanese airports do not operate 24/7. "That means we cannot use our fleet as efficiently as we would like," he said.
by Kurt Hofmann
ATWOnline
Friday November 21, 2008
ANA said it is considering establishing Tokyo Narita and Haneda as dual international hubs as it looks to expand its international network in coming years with the expected shrinking of the domestic market.
"Japan doesn't have a real hub like Seoul Incheon or Shanghai Pudong," VP-Network Planning Shuichi Fujimura told ATWOnline in Tokyo this week. "I want to change this so that Tokyo can compete with other hubs in the region. If we do nothing, we will lose passengers." He explained that the dual-hub strategy could make sense for Tokyo: "This depends on the time-banks. NRT could be the daytime and HND the nighttime bank airport."
Strengthening the Tokyo airports as hubs would tie into ANA's strategy for choosing new international destinations as its basic philosophy is focused on hub-to-hub operations. "We are [considering] possible new destinations like Denver, Munich or Milan Malpensa where our partner Lufthansa is starting its own operations," Fujimura said. But opening new routes depends on the global economic outlook. "We see maybe one year of global economic depression and, after that, prospects for network expansion," he said.
With a fourth runway slated to open at HND in October 2010, ANA plans to increase international frequencies and destinations. "But we will not reduce NRT," he noted. He sees a total international growth rate for the Japanese market of 4%-5% annually, which opens "a lot of opportunities for ANA."
Fujimura stressed the importance of international expansion: "Our domestic operation accounts for about 70% of total passenger revenue and so far this is stable and profitable. But things are changing. With more high-speed Shinkansen trains to come. . .[the trains] are taking away passengers." In addition, most Japanese airports do not operate 24/7. "That means we cannot use our fleet as efficiently as we would like," he said.
by Kurt Hofmann
ATWOnline
