ANA Group is out with a network update for 2022.

Some highlights

○ ANA and Peach will for the first time jointly develop schedules together including expanding ANA codesharing on Peach flights.
○ Offer the best brand mix for profitability allowing transfer of select routes from ANA to Peach
○ Both ANA and Peach will grow presence at Nagoya Chubu Airport
○ ANA will increase the use of widebodies domestically previously assigned to international segments
○ With continued strong demand for cargo, will continue to utilize passenger aircraft as supplement the existing 11 freighters
○ Internationally will strive to capture a greater volume of connecting passenger and cargo demand between Asia and North America via NRT.
○ Will transfer from HND back to NRT routes to IAD, IAH, SEA and YVR to better serve connections to/from Asia.
○ Will continue to postpone the launch of service from HND to ARN, IST, MXP, MOW and SJC.

article
https://www.flightglobal.com/networks/a ... 66.article

press release (pdf)
https://www.anahd.co.jp/group/en/pr/pdf/20220118.pdf

Smart move to link ANA and Peach together and coordinate schedules. Great for leisure traffic, although I can't imagine the Peach product will be too popular with premium and business travellers.

Moving several international routes back to Narita is unexpected though, especially considering how hard-fought those HND-US rights were. Having said that, demand to and from Japan is virtually non-existent at the moment, so chasing low-yield connecting traffic is better than sending out empty planes I suppose. I would be very surprised if this arrangement lasted more than a couple of years though - those international rights from Haneda are too valuable to risk losing.

Suppose this tells us markets like IAD, IAH, SEA, YVR generate lower Japan O&D for ANA and instead they seek to boost route performance by chasing transfer customers to other Asian markets instead.

UPlog wrote:

Suppose this tells us markets like IAD, IAH, SEA, YVR generate lower Japan O&D for ANA and instead they seek to boost route performance by chasing transfer customers to other Asian markets instead.

Cant speak for the others, but IAH is very heavy on Southeast Asia (SIN, SGN, HAN, KUL, and CGK).

...and the A.net myth was that airlines will never ever chase junk yield connecting traffic in expense of the wonderful O&D traffic.

Especially shocking when the cost paid was the precious HND route ...in favor of NRT.

PolarRoute wrote:

...and the A.net myth was that airlines will never ever chase junk yield connecting traffic in expense of the wonderful O&D traffic.

Carriers, especially those dependent on international long-haul, need to chase traffic where they can find it. The appropriate reference here isn't the opportunity cost of HND routes, but against the advantage of just parking aircraft.

We'll see how quickly they go back to HND when 'normal' patterns reimerge.

Given that Americans can't really enter Japan easily right now, moving to NRT temporarily makes sense to chase connecting traffic to stay afloat. I imagine ANA will look to shift these routes back the second Japanese tourism resumes in earnest.

LAXdude1023 wrote:

UPlog wrote:

Suppose this tells us markets like IAD, IAH, SEA, YVR generate lower Japan O&D for ANA and instead they seek to boost route performance by chasing transfer customers to other Asian markets instead.

Cant speak for the others, but IAH is very heavy on Southeast Asia (SIN, SGN, HAN, KUL, and CGK).

I was under the impression that IAD was heavy on Southeast Asia as well.

Given that UA/NH are JV partners, and considering that UA moved their IAD-NRT flight to HND, I long wondered if one carrier would move back to NRT to take advantage of the connecting traffic.

ANA is pivoting here and trying to make lemonade with the lemons it has on hand.

Obviously, long term Haneda is the place they want to be, and focus back on once strong Japan O&D traffic, but for now, if it helps them bleed less by chasing the transit Asia markets its a worthwhile endeavor.
Move also likely helps partners like Air Canada and United which themselves have culled their Asia networks, and can utilize these links to funnel passengers to point deeper.

I am curious about ANA-Peach integrating networks closer. I suppose this means they will sell segments where customers may fly ANA on one segment and connect to Peach on another.

How do they plan to deal with product variation, elite benefits, or mileage accrual (for instance Peach not part of Star), etc?

Seems messy and could lead to customer dissapointment.

PolarRoute wrote:

...and the A.net myth was that airlines will never ever chase junk yield connecting traffic in expense of the wonderful O&D traffic.

Especially shocking when the cost paid was the precious HND route ...in favor of NRT.

The problem is that there is no O&D traffic at the moment since Japan is closed. NH is choosing to take what they can get. JL did the same thing last year.

USAirALB wrote:

LAXdude1023 wrote:

UPlog wrote:

Suppose this tells us markets like IAD, IAH, SEA, YVR generate lower Japan O&D for ANA and instead they seek to boost route performance by chasing transfer customers to other Asian markets instead.

Cant speak for the others, but IAH is very heavy on Southeast Asia (SIN, SGN, HAN, KUL, and CGK).

I was under the impression that IAD was heavy on Southeast Asia as well.

Given that UA/NH are JV partners, and considering that UA moved their IAD-NRT flight to HND, I long wondered if one carrier would move back to NRT to take advantage of the connecting traffic.

I think you're right. Over the years a lot of the NH IAD traffic has been to SE Asia, particularly Vietnam if I recall. (I seen to recall at least one flight where they played Vietnamese announcements over the PA.) I also know a few people who regularly need to get to BKK in J and this was the best one-stop Star option before the switch to HND created a ridiculous layover of 8-13 hours. Europe is a lot more expensive and Beijing was not appealing. So, I, for one, am pretty happy at this news.

Coincidentally today I read Peach first A321LR entered service on January 18 initially between Osaka and Okinawa, but with 5 more LRs arriving they will have the ability to utilize the model deep into Southeast Asia and potentially take over or supplement existing ANA routes.

lawair wrote:

I think you're right. Over the years a lot of the NH IAD traffic has been to SE Asia, particularly Vietnam if I recall. (I seen to recall at least one flight where they played Vietnamese announcements over the PA.) I also know a few people who regularly need to get to BKK in J and this was the best one-stop Star option before the switch to HND created a ridiculous layover of 8-13 hours. Europe is a lot more expensive and Beijing was not appealing. So, I, for one, am pretty happy at this news.

I recall ANA made an investment in VN back in May 2016, and had a boardroom director in VN too. VN codeshares with ANA as the deal happens. That might explain the strong point of sale from or to Vietnam on ANA.

mercure1 wrote:

I am curious about ANA-Peach integrating networks closer. I suppose this means they will sell segments where customers may fly ANA on one segment and connect to Peach on another.

How do they plan to deal with product variation, elite benefits, or mileage accrual (for instance Peach not part of Star), etc?

Seems messy and could lead to customer dissapointment.

I don't think its that big and issue - QF do this across AU, NZ and Asia with the Jetstar franchise. The key is ensure ANA FF members can accrue and redeem points on Peach too - with lounge benefits. Its a great and cheap way for high tier FF members, who's business pays for their tickets to then travel for leisure solo or with family and maintain on the benefits on a budget.

I'm not sure if JL is integrated with Jetstar or Zip like this? But surely they would follow?

Are NH's international HND slots tied to the specific routes they were allocated for, or is there a way they can use these same slots in their domestic network without penalty? I assume that when things are back to normal (someday, hopefully...), they would need to move them back to YVR/SEA/IAH/IAD or face losing them? Or is it just the U.S. that tied international HND slots to specific routes?

FSDan wrote:

Are NH's international HND slots tied to the specific routes they were allocated for, or is there a way they can use these same slots in their domestic network without penalty? I assume that when things are back to normal (someday, hopefully...), they would need to move them back to YVR/SEA/IAH/IAD or face losing them? Or is it just the U.S. that tied international HND slots to specific routes?

The HND slots are country-specific. So in other words, ANA's HND U.S. slots to IAD/IAH/SEA could be utilized for any US market.

LAXintl wrote:

FSDan wrote:

Are NH's international HND slots tied to the specific routes they were allocated for, or is there a way they can use these same slots in their domestic network without penalty? I assume that when things are back to normal (someday, hopefully...), they would need to move them back to YVR/SEA/IAH/IAD or face losing them? Or is it just the U.S. that tied international HND slots to specific routes?

The HND slots are country-specific. So in other words, ANA's HND U.S. slots to IAD/IAH/SEA could be utilized for any US market.

Thanks. Appreciate the clarification!

Subscription Airline Weekly in their story about this mentioned ANA only flew about 10 percent of its 2019 international traffic in 2021 with an appalling 25% load factor.

The move to consolidate routes with lower Japan demand back to NRT was their way to capitalize and capture the trend of leisure and VFR travelers and by leveraging as much of ANAs international beyond network. The remaining smaller HND network would continue to focus on Japan demand and eventually be ready to serve Tokyo-bound business travelers once they return.

Am i reading correctly? ANA will fly to YVR from both HND and NRT in the fall?