The FINANCIAL — Sydney Airport will welcome All Nippon Airways (ANA) to Sydney in December, with the airline offering daily direct Tokyo Haneda-Sydney services on its Dreamliner aircraft.
“Sydney Airport is Australia’s international gateway and a leading airport globally for next generation aircraft, so it’s fitting that ANA will launch a new service to Sydney on its state-of-the-art Dreamliner aircraft later this year,” Sydney Airport managing director and chief executive officer Kerrie Mather said.
“This new service will boost tourism and visitor expenditure in Sydney and NSW, as it’s expected to bring more than 35,000 new Japanese visitors to Sydney and an estimated $77 million in incremental visitor expenditure to NSW.
“Japan has been Sydney’s fastest growing international destination for Australians over the past three years, so this new service will also offer more choice to Australians travelling to Japan for business and leisure.”
ANA will commence daily Tokyo Haneda-Sydney services on a 215-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on 11 December. The flight will arrive in Sydney at 9.35am and depart from Sydney at 9.30pm, resulting in a convenient overnight travel service, according to Sydney Airport.
Commenting on the announcement, ANA President and CEO Osamu Shinobe said, “We are thrilled to be expanding our footprint in Oceania and offering our passengers additional options and convenient connections through Haneda Airport.
“Our most comfortable seating and the optimised in-cabin humidity and air pressure of Boeing’s 787-9 Dreamliner should be especially good news for overnight travellers.”
NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres welcomed the announcement which will see even more visitors from Japan travel to NSW.
“This is fantastic news for our great State. The NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, is pleased to have secured this service in partnership with Sydney Airport,” Mr Ayres said.
“In 2014, more than 140,000 Japanese visitors travelled to NSW, spending more than $300 million, and we are delighted that the arrival of All Nippon Airways to Sydney will provide another boost to arrivals from this important international visitor market.”
John O’Sullivan, Managing Director of Tourism Australia, said the decision by ANA to resume flying to Australia would deliver a big tick for tourism, trade and investment links between both countries.
“It is very exciting to have ANA returning to Australia. We know from our research that the Japanese rank our country second on their global travel wish list, but that a key barrier to them actually visiting in recent years has been a shortage in aviation capacity,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“ANA’s new service will add close to 80,000 seats to Australia each year, which will be hugely significant in terms of boosting inbound travel from Japan.
“Japan is still a high volume inbound market for us – our seventh largest – and we’ll certainly be doing everything we can, alongside Sydney Airport and Destination NSW, to assist ANA in making sure this new service is strongly promoted and that we fill these seats.”
Mr O’Sullivan said that ANA’s extensive domestic network would allow convenient access to Australia from across Japan.
ANA is the largest airline in Japan, with a network of 73 international and 117 domestic routes, and is a member of the world’s largest global air network Star Alliance, providing convenient travel links for passengers throughout Asia.
Its 787-9 aircraft features technology to optimise cabin humidity and air pressure, and is equipped with the airline’s latest Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy Class amenities, providing passengers with a comfortable in-flight experience.
Discussion about this post