Our friends at ANA are teaming up with German carrier Lufthansa for some joint cargo routes after approval by regulators in both Europe and Japan. Under the contract, the airlines would jointly handle logistics and business operations on cargo flights between Japan and Europe. This follows similar joint routes in passenger service between the two airlines that launched in 2012. Both airlines are also members of the Star Alliance.
Joint operations in cargo flights from Japan will begin in the winter of 2014/2015 with an extension to European flights coming in summer 2015.
ANA and Lufthansa Cargo obtain antitrust immunity for Japan-Europe joint venture Wider range of service options by mutual collaboration benefit customers
Tokyo/Frankfurt, 03 September 2014 – All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline, and Lufthansa Cargo AG, one of the world ́s leading air cargo carriers, will launch a strategic air cargo joint venture on routes between Japan and Europe and vice versa. This is the first worldwide cargo joint venture of its kind. ANA has received antitrust immunity, i. e. approval for the joint venture from the Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport after filing for it in spring 2014. In addition, the joint venture has been positively assessed by external counsel for compliance with relevant EU antitrust regulations.
Now ANA and Lufthansa Cargo can jointly manage activities covered by the joint venture including network planning, pricing, sales and handling on all routes between Japan and Europe and vice versa. Based on a joint contract which shall be signed in the next weeks, the two carriers aim to introduce the joint approach on shipments originating from Japan to Europe in winter 2014/2015 and for shipments from Europe to Japan mid-2015.
The joint venture will benefit customers by generating a greater selection of routings and a wider range of service options. Customers will especially profit from a larger and faster network with more direct flights, more destinations and more frequencies. By their moving under one roof at major stations, such as the airports Narita and Nagoya in Japan and Dusseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany, customers will enjoy the services of both airlines at a single location.
On the passenger side Lufthansa and ANA build on a longstanding relationship as both companies are part of the Star Alliance network, the leading global airline network. Additionally, Lufthansa and ANA also launched a joint venture in 2012 on routes between Japan and Europe, allowing the two carriers to bring substantial benefits to passengers by creating a more efficient and comprehensive service across their networks. Complementary, with this new cargo joint venture, ANA Group and Lufthansa Group will bring their customers even more new values on air transportation services.
About ANA
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is the eighth largest airline in the world by revenues (2013) and the largest in Japan by passenger numbers and cargo tonnage (2013). Founded in 1952, ANA flies to 36 international and 51 domestic destinations with a fleet of 242 aircraft that serves a network of 187 routes. The company has 14,000 employees. In 2013, it carried 49 million passengers and 1,187 thousand tons cargo generated revenues of 1,601 billion yen (consolidated basis). ANA has been a core member of Star Alliance since 1999 and for passenger traffic, has joint-ventures with United Airlines on trans-Pacific routes and with Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, and Austrian Airlines on Japan-Europe routes. ANA was voted Airline of the Year for 2013 by Air Transport World, and was awarded five stars by the world’s leading airline and airport review site, Skytrax for 2013 and 2014. ANA is the launch customer and biggest operator of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. ANA recently started a new cargo business unit, ANA Cargo, which is covering sales, marketing and operations to see further business expansion with its current ten B767 freighter aircrafts and Okinawa cargo hub.
About Lufthansa Cargo AG
Lufthansa Cargo ranks among the world’s leading cargo carriers. In the 2013 business year, the airline transported around 1.7 million tonnes of freight and mail and sold 8.7 billion revenue tonne- kilometres. The Company currently employs about 4600 people, worldwide. Lufthansa Cargo focuses on the airport-to-airport business. The cargo carrier serves around 300 destinations in almost 100 countries with its own fleet of freighters, the belly capacities of passenger aircraft operated by Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, and an extensive road feeder service network. The bulk of the cargo business is routed through Frankfurt Airport. Lufthansa Cargo is a wholly owned Lufthansa subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
