ANA to begin Tokyo-Sydney non-stops

Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) is expanding its footprint in the Oceania region with the addition of non-stop flights from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) to Sydney (SYD).

Subject to government approval, the daily service will commence on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015 and will be the fourth new international route for ANA this year. The others include direct services to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAD) that began June 12, Kuala Lumpur (KUL) that is slated to start Sept. 1 and Brussels (BRU), schedule to start Oct. 25.

The new Sydney route capitalizes on the convenience of HND, which is a hub for 42 of ANA’s domestic routes as well as flights to North America, Europe and Asia.

Two ANA Dreamliners at HND
Flights to SYD will depart HND late at night with return flights arriving early in the morning, thus allowing passengers the opportunity to transit to a number of Japanese destinations by midday. The airport hosts the expanded ANA SUITE LOUNGE and ANA LOUNGE, and is a half-hour from the heart of Tokyo, meaning shorter travel times than the 90-minute trip to Narita (NRT).

ANA will operate a Boeing (NYSE:BA) 787-9 Dreamliner on the route. Both the 787-9 and the 787-8 Dreamliners, as well as the 787-10 which is under development offer state-of-the-art cabin experiences. Read more details about the Dreamliner here.

The aircraft on the HND-SYD route will offer 48 flat-bed Business seats, 21 Premium Economy seats and 146 standard Economy seats. This will mark a new configuration for the 787-9. According to SeatGuru.com, the 787-9s currently in use by ANA fly domestic routes and have 18 recliner Business Class seats and 377 standard Economy seats. The configuration more closely resembled the carrier’s 787-8s set in a three-class configuration, which offer 46 flat-bed Business seats, 21 Premium Economy seats and 102 standard Economy seats. On the 787-8, Business seats are 19.4 inches wide with 59 inches of pitch, Premium Economy seats are 19.3 inches wide with 38 inches of pitch, whiles standard Economy seats are 17.3 inches wide with 31 inches of pitch.

Every year, more than 300,000 Japanese visit travel to Australia, an established destination for studying English as well as traditional tourism. As well, an increasing number of visitors from Australia go to Japan. In 2014, more than 302,000 people from Down Under visited Japan, an increase of nearly 24 percent from the previous year. Japanese destinations such as Hakuba and Niseko are particularly popular among Australian winter sports lovers, the airline said.

Economic ties between Japan and Australia are also strengthening, with an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Japan and Australia formed in January this year. By flying this new route to Sydney, ANA is committed to making a contribution toward deeper bilateral economic and cultural ties as well as building stronger demand for flights to Japan.

Finally, increasing its international air travel is at the heart of ANA’s long-term business strategy, with the airline aiming to increase its international flight revenue by 50 percent in the next 10 years.

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Photo by Carl Dombek
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