All Nippon Airways (ANA) of Japan plans to increase its short and medium-haul fleet by 2030, particularly the Boeing 787 jets it has on order, said CEO Shinichi Inoue on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Istanbul on Monday.
ANA is still running fewer planes than it did before to COVID, but plans to reach that level by 2025 and exceed it by 2030, according to Inoue, who added that by then, the airline hopes to have more than 100 Boeing 787s in its fleet. "It is critical for us to increase fuel-efficient aircraft like the 787 in the future," Inoue stated at the IATA annual convention (AGM).
Air travel in Japan is slowly rebounding following the epidemic, with inward passenger traffic increasing but outward leisure demand remains "weak," he noted. While the fear of becoming sick keeps some passengers from traveling abroad, a lower yen versus the dollar makes it more expensive for Japanese travelers and hurts outbound demand, according to Inoue.
While restricted flights between the United States and China are increasing inbound demand for ANA as travellers transit through Tokyo, inflationary tendencies in the United States are projected to severely constrict outward travel, he added. ANA announced last year that it intends to start a new international low-cost carrier focusing on the Southeast Asian market in late 2023 or early 2024, when tourism recovers following the pandemic. According to Inoue, ANA plans to establish Air Japan in the spring of 2024.