ANA delays LCC launch
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All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s second-largest airline, may delay the start of a low-cost carrier (LCC) it planned to begin as early as this month following a slump in demand, Bloomberg reported.
The airline’s Director of Corporate Planning, Junichiro Miyagawa, was reported saying that it is still waiting for “the appropriate moment to make a decision”, and that ANA “will keep developments on our radar screen”.
ANA planned to create the as yet unnamed LCC before Tokyo’s Haneda airport opens a fourth runway next year, increasing the number of flights from domestic and foreign carriers it can handle. The airline opened an office in Hong Kong in April to study options for the LCC.
The carrier is forecasting a loss this year, and plans to cut 9% of international flights, mostly service to China, as a recession damps demand. ANA will also lower frequencies on 10 domestic routes. ANA saw an 18% year-on-year drop in international passengers in December, the sharpest drop since June 2003, the report said.
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