ALL Nippon Airways is dropping one of its eight weekly flights from Heathrow to Tokyo from March 28 following the unprecedented downturn in the Japanese economy.
The reduction in London capacity coincides with closer co-operation with ANA’s future Star Alliance partners, who will ensure high loads on its existing flights from London.
This involves joint marketing with Ansett and Air New Zealand for flights to the south Pacific through Tokyo and Osaka. Lufthansa and SAS will also help ANA – which joins the Star Alliance in October – to increase sales.
Other ANA routes, notably to Rome, major Asian cities and the US, have also been cut due to poor trading conditions.
Japan’s second largest carrier keeps its Heathrow-Osaka flights at five weekly, but has warned it will concentrate on high-yielding business flights from Tokyo in the future.
ANA president and chief executive Kichisaburo Nomura said: “Last year was tough but we are making some changes. Our 1999 business plan shows how ANA is rethinking its network as part of this process.”
ANA is also using smaller aircraft, such as Boeing 777s in place of B747s, to cut ú500m from costs.