ANA - All Nippon Airways (NH, Tokyo Haneda) is still intent on partnering other Asian carriers despite the collapse of its last venture - with Asian Wings Airways (Yangon) - in July last year. Speaking to Reuters, the newly appointed president of ANA Holdings Inc, Shinya Katanozaka, said establishing new partnerships would help mitigate the impact of economic downturns, natural disasters and other unforeseen events.
"We haven't stopped approaching Asian airlines," he said. "It's important to have a wide-reaching network to be able to overcome any hurdles."
ANA blamed an "increasingly competitive Myanma domestic market" for its decision to abandon plans to acquire a 49% stake in Asian Wings.
According to Katanozaka, ANA is looking to expedite its expansion plans ahead of the April 2017 expiration of a ban on rival JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) undertaking new investments. Tokyo imposed the moratorium as part of a JPY350 billion (USD4.5 billion) bail-out of the former state-owned carrier in 2010.
Domestically, ANA has also been touted as strong potential participant in the restructuring of the heavily indebted LCC Skymark Airlines (BC, Tokyo Haneda) while regionally it has also been linked to Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi Noi Bai International) and Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International).
The carrier is also considering expanding its footprint to include destinations in Russia, the Middle East and Africa, Katanozaka added.
