The All Nippon Airways Group (ANA) will launch a new airline brand as part of a major restructuring of its business model in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Japanese airline group’s new carrier will be positioned between the group’s premium full-service brand All Nippon Airways and its low-cost carrier Peach on the service/price matrix.
ANA says the new carrier, which currently does not have a name, will focus on “medium-distance” international routes in “Asian growth markets” with destinations in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The new airline brand will be established by fiscal year 2022, and all routes will be flown by the group’s B787 aircraft configured with two cabin classes and over 300 seats.
ANA says the new brand “will be capable of responding to sudden changes in demand and begin operations quickly after its establishment”.
The group also revealed plans to “transform the services of each airline to match the values of the “new normal” during and post Covid-19”. Its ANA brand will focus on “providing new products and services that meet the needs of the post-Covid customers”, while Peach Aviation will “expand the medium-distance international routes with new A321LR aircraft-based products/services”.
In a statement posted on its website about the new business model, the Japanese airline group says the demand for business travel will decrease and “likely not fully return to previous levels” due to changes in the nature of work, such as the widespread popularity of online conferences and meetings, while demand for leisure travel will “continue to remain robust”
The group also said it will retire a total of 35 aircraft this year, an increase from the seven it announced earlier. The group added that 22 out of the 35 aircraft to be retired are “Boeing-777 models”.
