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ANA to Sell Share in Nippon Cargo Airlines to NYK
-ANA to Concentrate on Developing Own Cargo Business - |
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| TOKYO July 12, 2005 - ANA will sell its 27.6% share in Nippon
Cargo Airlines (NCA) to fellow major shareholder, global logistics
company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). Both companies currently hold
equal shares in the cargo airline, and wish to pursue separate
strategies in the growing cargo market in the future. NCA will
become a consolidated subsidiary of NYK.
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| As yet a date has not been fixed for sale of ANA’s shareholding,
however it is expected to take place by the end of August this
year. |
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| ANA’s main cargo operations are carried out using the belly
hold of passenger aircraft, bolstered by one Boeing 767-300 freighter,
which mainly plies the lucrative routes between Japan and China.
NCA operates a fleet of 12 Boeing 747 freighter aircraft, for which
ANA provides some pilots and flight engineers, maintenance services,
and acts as General Sales Agent. ANA will continue to offer operational
support to NCA until 2009 when it becomes fully independent. |
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| In its midterm plan 2005-2007, ANA announced its intention to
make cargo the third pillar of its business, the others being international
and domestic passenger transportation. ANA’s growth plans,
for both cargo and passenger businesses, are centered on the future
expansion of Japan’s airport capacity, including that of
Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, which will get an extra 120,000 take-off
and landing slots in 2009. Within the present fiscal year, ended
March 31, 2006, ANA will take delivery of two more 767-300 freighters,
and intends to continue to expand its cargo operations in the future. |
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| “At present our resources are scattered between our own
operations and those of NCA, to which ANA supplies personnel as
well as technical support,” said Mineo Yamamoto, ANA President
and CEO. “The sale of our share of NCA will allow ANA to
achieve greater operational efficiencies and concentrate on growing
our own cargo operation to meet demand,” he continued. |
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| Demand for international air cargo services from Japan has grown
at an average of 7.2% over the last 20 years, and according to
IATA forecasts is set to grow at a rate of 7.6% until 2010. Demand
is particularly strong between Japan and China, with growth forecast
at 16% for services from Japan to China, and 14% for services from
China to Japan. |
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| Domestic cargo demand is also expected to grow by 2%, fuelled
by an improving economy, demand for digital products parts and
recent changes to rules governing speed limits for road freight,
which has resulted in a shift to air freight. |
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About ANA
ANA has been in the air transport business for over 50
years, and now ranks among the 10 largest passenger airlines in
the world,
flying almost 50 million passengers annually to 22 destinations
worldwide, and 49 cities within the Japanese archipelago. Its fleet
of 180 aircraft will be complemented by the 787 in 2008, of which
ANA is the launch customer. Its network extends across Europe,
the USA, Asia and the Pacific Islands of Hawaii and Guam. ANA joined
the world’s foremost airline family, Star Alliance, in October
1999, bringing access to 772 airports in 133 countries, as well
as benefits such as mileage recognition and lounge access. |
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About NYK
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, (NYK), is one of the world's leading
transportation companies. The NYK Group operates approximately
650 major ocean vessels as well as planes, trains and trucking
fleets. Its shipping fleet includes around 130 container ships,
210 bulk carriers, 40 wood chips carriers, 100 car carriers, 25
Reefer carriers, 55 tankers, 20 Liquefied Natural Gas carriers
and 4 cruise ships. NYK's revenue in 2004-05 was $15Bn and as a
Group, NYK employs 33,000 people worldwide. It has offices in 240
locations based in 27 countries, warehouses in every continent
and harbour operations in Asia, North America and Europe. Global
Headquarters are in Tokyo, with Regional HQs in London, New York,
Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney. |
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About NCA
NCA was created as a scheduled/ non-scheduled cargo airline in
September 1978, and made its first maiden flight on the Tokyo -
San Francisco - New York route in May 1985. It currently operates
a fleet of 12 Boeing 747 freighter aircraft on a network extending
from Japan to the rest of Asia, the United States and Europe. Its
principal shareholders are Nippon Yusen Kaisha (27.59%), ANA (27.59%),
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (13.19%), and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (13.19%). |
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Contact:
Rob Henderson, Public Relations: r.henderson@ana.co.jp |
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