TOKYO: Japan’s All Nippon Airways has announced to buy three Airbus A380s in about $1 billion deal, business daily Nikkei said Friday.
The Japanese airline plans to introduce the double-decker planes on flights to Hawaii and other overseas destinations, in an effort to boost its international business. The company paid about 150 billion yen ($1.23 billion) for the three A380 planes, which have 500 seats, more than double the number of spots on ANA planes that currently fly to Hawaii, the business daily said.
In 2014, ANA was ahead of its rival Japan Airlines (JAL) in terms of passenger count on international flights, but JAL served more people on the Tokyo to Hawaii route – 35 percent of all Hawaii-bound passengers compared to ANA’s 20 percent.
ANA hopes the superjumbo jet purchase will give it a leg up and allow it to increase the number of people it serves on flights to Hawaii. About 1.5 million people travel from Japan to Hawaii ever year, according to the Hawaiian Tourism Authority.
