• 

  All Nippon Airways

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  NH/ANA

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Tokyo Haneda Airport, Tokyo Narita Airport

  Year Founded:

  1952

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  CEO:

  Koji Shibata

  Country:

  Japan

  Region:

  Asia

Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways, commonly known as ANA, has confirmed the return of regular scheduled Airbus A380 flights. The giant of the skies will resume flights between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu on July 1st, exactly three years after its second A380 started revenue flights. Initially, just two flights each week are planned, though as demand ramps up, the airline will likely add further flights.

ANA was the last airline to take delivery of its first new Airbus A380. It also lays claim to the smallest Airbus A380 order, with just three joining the fleet. ANA has always been clear that the Airbus A380 is destined for a single market, and this was the case. Then, COVID-19 changed everything.

The Airbus A380 is back

ANA has revealed that it will resume Airbus A380 flights on July 1st. As always envisioned, since the first A380 was delivered, the jet will only fly between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu. For the time being, ANA has just two A380 services a week planned until the winter schedule launch in October.

Airbus A380 flights will depart from Tokyo Narita on Fridays and Saturdays, arriving back in Japan a day later according to the following schedule,

• NH 184 - Narita International Airport (NRT) 20:10 - Honolulu Airport (HNL) 08:45 - 07h35m
• NH 183 - Honolulu Airport (HNL) 11:35 - Narita International Airport (NRT) 14:50+1 - 08h15m

ANA will face competition from four airlines on the route between Tokyo and Honolulu,

• Hawaiian Airlines
• Japan Airlines
• ZIPAIR Tokyo
• United Airlines (a codeshare partner)

This isn't the first time that ANA has flown the A380 to Hawaii since the start of the pandemic. Last summer, the airline operated a couple of scheduled one-off flights to the islands.

Only one A380 needed

While ANA has now taken delivery of all three of its Airbus A380s, the carrier will need only one to complete the planned schedule. Travelers may assume that ANA would only use one A380, keeping the other two stored. However, the airline's history shows that this may not be the case.

While almost all A380 airlines shipped their Airbus A380s off to long-term storage, ANA kept its fleet flying throughout the pandemic, operating sightseeing "flights to nowhere" several times a month. Both of its older A380s have been regularly used for this purpose, though the newest aircraft has only flown once since its delivery in October 2021.

What had ANA planned with the A380?

Yesterday IATA revealed that it expected the aviation industry to recover next year fully. Assuming that this route recovers to pre-pandemic levels, ANA will once again be able to implement its complete planned Airbus A380 schedule between the two airports. During the summer of 2018, ANA operated 15% of the seats available between Japan and Hawaii. With all three Airbus A380s, it was due to boost this to 25%.

With all three Airbus A380s, ANA had planned to operate a twice-daily A380 flight to Honolulu. One would imagine that ANA works to resume a once-daily service before adding a second service, though if demand is exceptionally high on different days, it could make sense.

Are you excited to see the return of the ANA Airbus A380? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!

Sources: ANA, ch-aviation.com, Cirium, FlightRadar24.com