All Nippon Airways

ANA, an acronym for All Nippon Airways (全日空 Zennikkū in Japanese), is an airline that was first established in 1952 as Japan Helicopters and Aeroplane Transports Corporation. The company was a direct result of World War II because of the Japanese Government's necessity to re-establish air transport within the country.

Most of the airline's international service is based at Narita International Airport in Narita, Japan. The domestic service is mostly from Tokyo International Airport in the ward of Ota in Tokyo, Japan.

ANA's associate companies in Tokyo include Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) and Air Nippon, which now over takes charter flights for ANA.

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History

ANA, which now ranks among the world's largest airlines, had humble beginnings, as a domestic operator. In February of 1953, helicopter service was started and soon after passenger charter flights followed. 1955 saw the beginning of a new and profitable ANA route when Osaka was added from Tokyo with an inaugural cargo flight. That same year, the Douglas DC-3 plane began flying for Japan Helicopters and Aeroplane, and in 1957, the airline changed its name to ANA. In 1958, tragedy touched ANA for the first time, when DC-3 JA5045 crashed. Better news came later that year when Far Eastern Aviation, a small competitor, merged with ANA, leaving the airline's total capital at 600 million Yen.

The 1960s was a period of slow but unstoppable growth for the company, when they added the Vickers Viscount to the fleet in 1960, and later Fokker F27s, in 1961. Another setback came in 1960 when another DC-3 JA5018 was lost. 1961 marked ANA's debut at the Tokyo Stock Exchange as well as the Osaka Security Exchange. 1963 saw another merger, this one with Fujita Airlines, raising the company's capital to 4 billion yen.

In 1965, ANA finally introduced jet services with Boeing 727s. The new members of ANA's fleet were soon joined by YS-11s.

1966 saw another tragedy. A Boeing 727 of ANA was landing in Tokyo when it crashed on the waters of the Tokyo Bay, with the loss of all passengers. Another tragedy, this time a crash of a YS-11, followed soon after.

In 1969, ANA closed the 1960s by introducing Boeing 737 service.

The 1970s saw the beginning of ANA's internationalization. February 3 of 1971 in particular was a historic date for the airline, when ANA inaugurated its first international service, a charter flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong. In March of that year, another Boeing 727, registration number JA8329, suffered an accident. The Lockheed L-1011 was introduced in 1973 and Boeing 747's in 1978.

In 1983 Boeing 767's were bought. In 1986 ANA started regular passenger service from Tokyo to Guam. Soon after, many cities such as Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris were added.

ANA continued its expansion of services all over Asia, North America and Europe during the 1990's, and Airbus equipment such as the A320, A321 and A340 was added to the fleet, as was the Boeing 747-400 jet. In 1994, ANA started service to Kansai International Airport and in 1999, it joined the Star Alliance group.

In 1999, a man hijacked All Nippon Airways Flight 61 and killed the pilot. Nobody else on the airplane was hurt.

After the September 11 attacks of 2001, an ANA 747 flying from Dulles International Airport in Virginia, near Washington D.C. to Narita, Japan became the first plane to fly in the United States once the grounding of all planes in US territory was declared over by President George W. Bush's government.

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Fleet Information

ANA owns a total of 167 aircrafts.

Boeing 747-400 x23
Boeing 747SR-400 x7
Boeing 747-200B x2
Boeing 777-300 x7
Boeing 777-200 x16
Boeing 767-300 x52 (includes 1 frieghter)
Boeing 767-200 x2 (leased to SkyMark and Air Do)
Airbus 321-100 x7
Airbus 320-200 x28 (includes aircrafts jointly owned with Air Nippon)

ANA also leased a number of their aircrafts to Air Nippon:

Boeing 737-500 x16
DHC-8-400 x3
DHC-8-300 x4

ANA has five specially painted jets: three Pokémon jets (a Boeing 747-400 for international service, and a Boeing 747-400 and a Boeing 767-300 for domestic service), one Star Alliance jet, and one Woody jet in affiliation with USJ, the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka .

ANA became the launch customer for the new Boeing widebody, the 7E7, ordering 50 examples with an option for 50 more. Deliveries will begin in 2008. ANA has not specified what mix of 7E7 variants it will receive, nor has it stated whether it will use General Electric or Rolls-Royce engines. This move is part of ANA's continuing plan to become an all-Boeing airline.

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