News / NCA looks to use merger with ANA to expand its reach in South-east Asia

Photo: © Ajdibilio

Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) is looking to its budding alignment with All Nippon Airways (ANA) to expand its access to airfreight markets in South-east Asia.

Last month the two Japanese airlines finally completed their merger, which had been agreed back in 2023 but kept being postponed because of delays in the approval processes.

The pair had a loose collaboration in the past, which ended when container line NYK, one of the major shareholders of NCA, took full control of the cargo airline in 2010. Two years ago, NYK management decided to sell the carrier to ANA, citing high costs and the expertise needed to operate a cargo airline.

The marriage creates a combination carrier with a substantial presence in the freighter market: while NCA operates a fleet of eight B747-8Fs and has leased its seven B747-400Fs to other operators, ANA’s cargo line-up comprises two B777Fs and six B767 cargo aircraft.

“We will still operate as two airlines, but we can work much more closely together,” said Shawn McWhorter, president of NCA Americas.

The cargo airline recently resumed flights to Frankfurt, a move seen as a shift to step up its presence in the Asia-Europe market, but its primary focus remains on the transpacific arena.

Teaming up with ANA will bolster its presence in both sectors, adding destinations through ANA services to cities like Washington and Houston and boosting capacity in markets like New York, where NCA has two weekly freighter departures and ANA operates daily passenger flights.

However, it will take some time to align their transpacific operations, Mr McWhorter explained. And before this can be tackled, he is eager to link up with ANA’s freighter operations.

“One key focus now is handling at [Tokyo] Narita to connect to ANA’s 767 freighter network,” he said.

This move promises a significant boost to NCA’s presence in South-east Asia, a market it has only dabbled in so far.

“They [ANA] go to places where we are constrained. We only serve Shanghai in China and we don’t have much access to South-east Asia,” Mr McWhorter said.

Besides serving Hong Kong and Taipei, NCA flies three days a week to Singapore, but has no direct access to markets like Thailand or Vietnam, serving them through interline arrangements. Like its own flights to the region, the capacity on these is well short of market demand.

ANA, on the other hand, runs daily freighters to destinations including Bangkok.

Customers are showing interest in greater connectivity between the US and South-east Asia, said Mr McWhorter adding: “We will offer it to them, but first we want to make sure we can provide a reliable service. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes to build up operational capabilities.”