ANA to upgrade aircraft for Haneda route to isles

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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2015

All Nippon Airways plans to upgrade its aircraft serving Honolulu to double-decker Airbus A380s in three years. An A380 is shown performing its demonstration flight at the Paris Air Show last year.

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All Nippon Airways, Japan’s largest airline, is shifting to larger aircraft to serve Honolulu from Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport beginning April 28 and then will upgrade again in 2019 to double-decker aircraft.

“Hawaii is an important destination for Japan’s travelers to visit and do business,” said Hideki Horiguchi, vice president and general manager of ANA Group’s Honolulu office. “We believe our customers flying to Honolulu will be very pleased with the transition to our B787 aircraft this spring and the introduction of our new A380 in three years.”

The upgrade to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from the B767-300 currently in service will offer customers the newest in-flight amenities and increase seating capacity by 24 seats per flight to 240 total seats in a two-class cabin. The double-decker Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft, can seat more than 500 passengers.

News reports earlier this month indicated that ANA’s recently purchased A380s would be used for Hawaii service, but the airline declined to comment at the time.

“We congratulate ANA on the acquisition of its new A380 aircraft and appreciate the airline’s upgrade in service for Japan travelers coming to Hawaii and for the many residents of Hawaii who fly daily to Japan for business and leisure,” Gov. David Ige said in the ANA news release. “We welcome the upsizing of ANA’s aircraft to the B787 this spring and look forward to celebrating the launch of its new A380 in 2019.”

ANA currently flies twice daily to Honolulu from Tokyo’s Narita International Airport and once daily from Haneda.

Japan, the state’s largest international market, accounted for nearly 1.5 million visitors to the islands last year. But that number was down 0.8 percent from just over 1.5 million in 2014 due to a weak yen that curbed travel to the islands. Japanese spending in Hawaii was down 9.8 percent in 2015 to $2.2 billion from $2.4 billion a year earlier.

“We appreciate how ANA Group has incorporated service to Hawaii into its long-range planning, with the introduction of these newer, state-of-the-art aircraft,” said George D. Szigeti, Hawaii Tourism Authority president and CEO. “It speaks to the confidence that ANA has in Hawaii as a preferred destination for its customers, and how Hawaii is continuing to meet the needs of travelers seeking a memorable stay in our islands.”