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Wednesday, 31st July 2013
In General Japan News,
ANA partly blames profit loss on grounded Dreamliner fleet
Anyone with even a vague interest in aviation will not be surprised to learn that ANA Holdings, owner of Japan's All Nippon Airways, has recorded a loss in profits between April and June.
The company, which is the biggest operator of Boeing's troubled 787 Dreamliner jets, had to cancel hundreds of flights when two of the planes experienced problems with batteries overheating.
Although only one of the beleaguered aircraft belonged to ANA's 787 fleet, which total 20 in all, every Boeing 787 was grounded until tests were carried out to determine the root of the problem.
The incidents happened in January 2013, but ANA was not able to resume commercial flights on its Dreamliner fleet until May, leading to considerable losses.
Following the reinstatement of the Dreamliners, Osamu Shinobe, chief executive of ANA, was keen to reassure everyone that "the safety of passengers is our number one priority".
In addition to modifications to the planes and the installation of new battery systems, Mr Shinobe said that ANA had undertaken its own testing.
He hinted that the aircraft was pivotal to the company's success as he said the 787s were "important from an environmental, efficiency and passenger comfort perspective".
According to the company's figures, ANA made a net loss of 6.6 billion yen (£44m), which is considerable when you take into account the 668m yen profit it posted for the same time period in 2012.
In a company statement, the airline said that "operating revenues were … held back by the suspension of Boeing 787 services for part of the period".
Despite this, ANA put the majority of the loss down to an increase in fuel prices.
"The primary reason for the increase in operating expenses was a rise in fuel costs due to the weakening of the yen."
The company suggested that despite a tough economic climate, measures introduced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government were expected to help the economy at large and thus businesses.
In addition, ANA was keen to state that it would "continue to seek cost savings, strengthen its management and implement its corporate plan".
Their statement suggested that ANA would be looking to diversify and expand into "aviation related businesses" and investments predominantly within Asia, although it failed to go into specifics.
Written by Graham McPherson
Related news stories:
Boeing asked to provide operating history of Dreamliner batteries (31st January 2013)
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