The Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced its intention to buy three Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft to fly on its busiest routes. The order will, according to the price list, have a value of 1.23 billion US dollars. Delivered in 2018, the first aircraft will fly on the routes to, among other places, Hawaii.
The Japanese company joins in a relatively limited number of airlines that use the aircraft. The first A380 joined Singapore Airlines in 2007 and was subsequently taken into service by Lufthansa and Emirates. The latter company is the largest customer.
Other airlines that fly the Airbus A380 include: Air France, Asiana Airlines, British Airways, China Southern Airlines, Etihad Airways, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways and Thai Airways International.
Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) has denied reports that parent company ANA Holdings has completed a deal to acquire three Airbus A380s that were repossessed from low-cost carrier Skymark Airlines.
Tokyo-based Skymark filed for bankruptcy early in 2015 and defaulted on payments for an order for six A380s. In August, Skymark’s creditors approved a rehabilitation plan that saw ANA take a 16.5% stake in the company.
Over the Christmas holidays, reports surfaced in the Nikkei, Bloomberg and Reuters that Airbus had done a deal to sell three of those A380s to ANA.
However, an ANA spokesman told ATW that nothing was decided.
“The story is not based on our official announcement and there is nothing decided yet.
We are currently formulating the next mid-term corporate strategy and considering various options for airplanes as we have done so in the past,” he said.
The spokesman added that ANA plans to issue its medium-term corporate strategy on Jan. 29.
ANA has an all-Boeing widebody fleet. The carrier was the launch customer for the 787 Dreamliner and is a 777X customer. The Star Alliance carrier does operate Airbus A320s and is a customer for the re-engined A320neo.
Source: ATW online http://atwonline.com/airframes/ana-a380-deal-not-decided