ANA CEO Outlines Fleet Plan Through 2030

RIO DE JANEIRO—All Nippon Airways (ANA) President and CEO Juichi Hirasawa has directed the creation of a strategic fleet plan through 2030 under which the Japanese carrier will grow to operating 320 aircraft.

By the end of ANA’s fiscal 2025 (ended March 31, 2026), ANA operated 296 aircraft, comprising Airbus A320neos and A380s and Boeing 767-300ERs, 777-300ERs, 787-8s, 787-9s and 787-10s.

Asked if the A380 fleet of just three aircraft has a future with ANA, Hirasawa said that since the A380 only started operations with the airline in 2019, the aircraft has the capacity to keep flying. “We don’t really have the time it would take to look for a possible A380 replacement,” Hirasawa said June 7 at a briefing on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Rio de Janeiro.

ANA’s first 777-9 is scheduled to be delivered in fiscal 2027, and Hirasawa said he did not expect any delays at this point. “Even if delays occur, we will just postpone the retirement of current aircraft, so it won’t have any impact,” he said.

Regarding ANA’s order for 15 firm and five option Embraer E195-E2s, planned to start delivery in fiscal 2028, Hirasawa made clear that the current plan is to use these aircraft on domestic routes. “But there is a possibility for international flights,” he said.

There has been no drop in demand for flights, domestic or international, which Hirasawa described as “very strong” despite geopolitical events. “We expect this will continue even when fuel surcharges are added,” he said. But higher fuel costs since the outbreak of the war in Iran compel the Star Alliance airline to keep a sharp focus on overall costs. ANA avoids Russian airspace on its Japan-Europe routes because of the ongoing war in Ukraine, making those flights longer and more fuel consumption heavy. Hirasawa told ATW that even with those longer flights and higher fuel prices, ANA’s European flights remain profitable.

“We are able to take care of and manage the extra costs,” he said.