Embraer Commercial Aviation CEO Arjan Meijer and ANA president and CEO Koji Shibata.
LE BOURGET: ANA Holdings, parent company of All Nippon Airways (ANA) finalized deals for Airbus and Embraer aircraft that will see the entry of two aircraft types into the Japanese airline’s fleet.
In a flurry of signing ceremonies at the Paris Air Show Monday, an ANA Holdings contingency led by president and CEO Koji Shibata moved from the Embraer to Airbus and then the Boeing chalets.
At Embraer, Shibata finalized a deal for 15 firm E190-E2s plus five options. The order, which had been previously announced, will mark the first E2s to be operated in Japan. The aircraft are scheduled to begin deliveries from 2028.
Embraer president and CEO Francisco Gomes Neto described the order, the Brazilian manufacturer’s first with ANA, as “a very important milestone.”
From there, the ANA executives took the short hop to the Airbus chalet, where Shibata and Airbus EVP commercial sales Benoît de Saint-Exupéry finalized an agreement for 24 A321neos and three A321XLRs.
ANA LCC Peach Aviation will operate the XLRs, becoming the first Japanese airline to do so.
Deliveries are scheduled to begin from FY 2030 and will take ANA’s Airbus orderbook to almost 100 aircraft. ANA currently operates 33 A320 family narrowbodies, while Peach, an all-Airbus operator, has 36.
Finally, the ANA contingency moved to the Boeing chalet. They did not make any order announcements nor do any signings, and Boeing did not participate in what was essentially an ANA-only media briefing. In the wake of the Air India Flight 171 Boeing 787 crash last week, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) is having a subdued Paris show and has cancelled most of its planned briefings. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and BCA CEO Stephanie Pope canceled their plans to attend the show.
Consequently, there was a rather unusual situation in which executives at a major airline briefed reporters about their plans, including those for new Airbus and Embraer aircraft, from within a Boeing chalet.
ANA Holdings president and CEO Koji Shibata said he was encouraging Peach to look at new destinations it might add to its network given the XLR’s longer range. Koji also talked about market yield and demand staying strong despite current global geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties, although he added, “we are keeping a close eye on tariffs.”
He also talked about the goal of the Japanese government to grow the number of international visitors to Japan to some 60 million people by 2030 (from around 37 million in 2024), hinting at potential more aircraft orders in the near future.
“We would love to have 60 million foreigners in Japan, but we do not feel that the 70 aircraft we have ordered will be enough, so we expect to see more chances in the next three years.” Koji said. “Having 60 million inbound passengers would be very good for the Japanese economy, but this cannot be done by only by an airline. We will need to work with airports, government and local authorities. But as an airline, we will do our best to manage all this.”
Meanwhile, ANA Holdings’ other airline, long-haul LCC Air Japan, operates two Boeing 777s and will soon receive a third. Koji said the company was considering three more, but that was not yet decided, and he said it might be that the E-192 would work for some Air Japan routes.
He added that demand for air cargo remained strong, and that ANA placed “high value” on that market segment.
“Current [air cargo] demand between China and the US is weak, but in the greater world, demand is strong; it’s good business today,” he said.
Related Content
