Japan Today
business

ANA takes delivery of first Airbus A380

21 Comments

All Nippon Airways (ANA) on Wednesday took delivery of its first A380, becoming the 15th operator of the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

ANA has ordered three A380s and will operate the aircraft on the popular route between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu from May 24.

Each ANA A380 will feature a special livery depicting the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle, also known as the Honu. The livery on the first aircraft is painted in blue, while the second will be green and the third orange.

ANA’s A380 is configured in a premium layout seating 520 passengers. The upper deck features eight suites in First Class, 56 business class seats that convert to fully flat beds and 73 premium economy seats. Economy Class is located on the main deck seating 383 passengers, including 60 couch seats.

The aircraft features ANA’s very latest in-flight entertainment systems, as well as full connectivity in all classes.

“We will commit all three of our Airbus A380 to the Tokyo-Honolulu route with the goal of introducing a new level of luxury service to our passengers flying ANA on the number one resort route for Japanese travelers,” said Shinya Katanozaka, president and CEO of ANA Holdings. “We believe the A380 will become a game changer for ANA and will enable us to increase our market share by doubling the number of seats connecting Honolulu and Tokyo by 2020.”

Including this latest delivery to ANA, there are currently 232 A380s in service with 15 airlines worldwide, flying on 120 routes across the globe.

© Asia Travel Tips

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

21 Comments
Login to comment

Just as Airbus stops production of the A380... must've got a good deal :)

11 ( +12 / -1 )

I assume they got a discount for buying discontinued merchandise.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Two of the three A380s Skymark had ordered but bankruptcy prevented the deal from happening. ANA then took over the order presumably at a heavy discount.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I wish they didn't stop these, they actually have a ton of space and are great for long flights.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Interesting that they are using it on the Tokyo-Honolulu route. It shows how much the Japanese people love Hawaii. I don't think they will use it on the Tokyo-Beijing or Tokyo-Seoul route. I wonder why?

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

@alwaysspeakingwisdom, I think they want to squeeze Hawaiian out of the picture.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The 3 A380's (of which this is the first), were ordered way back in 2015, long before the cancellation of production was announced. They are not part of he cancelled Skymark order. They went to Emirates as the configuration closely matched the high density version they use on less business orientated routes.

Smart business by ANA - since the demise of the 747 there have not been any VLC's serving Honolulu from Japan. This will enable them to capture a much larger share of the market. They have gone as far as financing the renovation of a gate at Honolulu with double airbridges etc to facilitate the A380 and completely overhauled the lounge there so that Business and First class passengers can board directly from there.

They won't squeeze anybody out of the market, there aren't enough seats to Hawaii at peak times as it is - and this really is geared towards the package tour market. Hawawiian are likely to be given two more slots from Haneda in the coming months as it is. Note that the A380 is not allowed fly to Haneda unless in an emergency or diversion as it creates too much wake and would cause delays in what is very, very busy airspace.

No need to use on regional routes such as Seoul/China. More than enough capacity with amazing regularity if you want to choose between Haneda and Narita offering onward long haul flights. Hawaii - Tokyo is a one and done route essentially.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Pilots hate them as they often have problems with the engines etc. and they are being discontinued because they aren't actually very efficient fuel wise.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

@serendipitous1: Can you back that statement up? Fuel wise, no compared to a 777 or 787 they are not the greatest, but it is far superior to the 747 with fuel consumption when operated in a high density configuration on the correct routes. Pilots hate them? I’ve yet to meet one who does, and yet to talk to a passenger who doesn’t like flying on one.

The A380 came 10 years too late, the workd changed and Boeing got it spot on with the 787 finally being able to offer efficient point to point travel versus hub and spoke which was the idea of the A380.

Which engines are you referring to? RR or CFM?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Which engines are you referring to? RR or CFM?

No CFM engines on an A380, they're are not powerful enough and are basically on single aisle aircraft or A340 classics.

A380s have either EA GP2700 engines or RR Trent 900s.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Economy Class is located on the main deck seating 383 passengers, including 60 couch seats

OK, so I had to check out what the couch seats are - pretty nice! Even using 3 or 4 seats, way cheaper than business class, yet you can lie flat.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I just watched Sam Chui's video about the delivery.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I wonder why Airbus did not see the trend already happening with 4 engine jumbo jets as many retired Boeing 747 from fleets ?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Nice looking paint job but i would not want to fly in one. They are not very maneuverable sort of like flying the titanic.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

That livery makes the A380 look small.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@JTO: Thank you for the correction.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The only thing done by ANA more idiotic than this purchase was putting RR engines on their 787 fleet.

15 of those machines have been continuously parked in Haneda without engines on and off for the past 7 years. --That's about $4 BILLION US worth of equipment making no money but requires payments on.

Great going!

Nowhere in the world is lack of talent in airline leadership is as horrendous as in Japan:

100% of the international flights between Okinawa and Kyushu -with the exception of Fukuoka, are done by foreign carriers, and have always been so!

The single exception to failure was when the great Chairman Mr. Inamori saved JAL from bankruptcy.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Mr. Inamori saved JAL from bankruptcy.

Mr Inamori didnt save JAL , it was the J taxpayer and all those debtors that had to take the losses when JAL declared bankruptsy, no need for responsible spending when you know J pride will never allow a national carrier to dissapear

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites