News / ANA-NCA now selling one network as integration advances

Photo: © Ajdibilio

All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) are pushing ahead with their integration.

In North America, the pair have aligned sales and pricing to sell one network, while systems integration, the final piece of the puzzle, is expected to be completed halfway through 2027.

ANA, Japan’s largest passenger airline, officially acquired 100% of the all-cargo carrier on 1 August of last year.

To cargo customers in the US, the pair are now essentially one company. Pricing has been aligned and covers all destinations across their combined network, said Shawn McWhorter, president of NCA Americas.

“We’ve aligned all sales activities in the US,” he said. “We’re operating virtually as one company.”

NCA operates a fleet of B747 freighters, predominantly deployed on transpacific routes, and ANA runs a B777 freighter to Los Angeles and Chicago, and uses supplemental lift by US freighter operator Kalitta Air to Chicago. Its passenger flights to the US cover New York, Washington, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

ANA cargo sales personnel as well as the passenger airline’s external freight sales agents have moved under the NCA sales umbrella.

Customers can use air waybills of either airline, Mr McWhorter said. To them, it is one carrier made up of several operators – the proprietary flights of ANA and NCA and contracted freighters flown by Kalitta and Atlas Air.

Historically, NCA’s sales in the US have concentrated largely on traffic to Japan, but the integration with ANA’s network offers more possibilities to serve customers looking to move freight to other Asian destinations.

Sales have also been aligned in Mexico, which both carriers have covered through local GSA contracts. ANA runs a passenger flight between Tokyo and Mexico City, while NCA has been working with Mexican all-cargo airline Mas de Cargo.

In December, the pair announced a block space deal to give the Asian carrier space on Mas from Los Angeles to the Mexican capital and to Guadalajara. In return, Mas has space allocations on NCA flights between LA and Tokyo.

Connection and capacity arrangements between the two carriers remain unchanged, according to Mr McWhorter.

Down the road, he has his eyes on the market between Latin America and Asia, where he sees promising demand, but for now the integration with ANA is taking priority. With the sales integration in North America in the bag, the focus in now on ground handling, the objective to bring the two partners under one roof in locations they both serve, such as Los Angeles and New York JFK.

The final step in the fusion of the two Japanese carriers will be on the systems side, where the pair are using different versions. For the time being, they pick which system to use, based on the air waybill in play.

“By the middle of 2027, it will be all integrated,” Mr McWhorter said.

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