ANA mulling fresh jet orders amid international expansion plans

All Nippon Airways Co. is evaluating new wide-body and single-aisle jet orders as it doubles down on international expansion.

“International flights will be at the core of our strategy and we will need aircraft resources to accommodate this growth,” Chief Executive Officer Shinichi Inoue told Bloomberg News during the IATA annual meeting of global airlines in Dubai.

Japan’s biggest carrier is assessing and weighing future decisions on its aircraft needs, Inoue said, with driving factors including runway slot constraints at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, which ranks among the world’s busiest.

Planemakers are also running out of slots to build aircraft into the end of the decade, driving ANA to eye further purchases of large aircraft, Inoue said.

ANA still has 18 777-9s yet to be delivered on top of 14 787 Dreamliners. The carrier also has 20 737 Max single-aisle jets on its books. 

ANA has a fleet of over 240 aircraft, including more than 80 Dreamliners.