N🟁N

ANA Plans Joint Venture With Lufthansa on Japan-Europe Routes

  //business-finance.news-articles.net/content/201 .. nture-with-lufthansa-on-japan-europe-routes.html
  Published in Business and Finance on Tuesday, February 22nd 2011 at 23:40 GMT by Market Wire
          ^{🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication}

TOKYO--(Marketwire - February 23, 2011) - All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. ("ANA") (LSE: ANA) today filed an application with the Japanese Government for antitrust immunity to launch a joint venture with Lufthansa German Airlines ("Lufthansa") on routes between Japan and Europe, allowing the two carriers to bring substantial benefits to passengers by creating a more efficient and comprehensive service across their networks.

Subject to approval of the application by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, ANA and Lufthansa will be able to jointly manage their Japan-Europe operations in areas such as scheduling, pricing and sales. This will give customers a greater choice of connections and a wider range of fare and service options.

"By forging this closer cooperation with one of our partner airlines in the Star Alliance, we will significantly enhance our ability to serve customers throughout Europe and offer new choice and convenience for passengers. We are looking forward to our application being approved," said Shinichiro Ito, President and CEO of ANA.

"With today's application for a joint venture, we are deepening our long-standing partnership with Star Alliance member ANA. This step comes on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the first Lufthansa flight to Japan and the 150th anniversary of the signing of the first German-Japanese treaty of friendship," said Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Executive Board & Chief Executive Officer Deutsche Lufthansa AG. He added, "The joint venture, which is subject to government approval, will send a good signal to our customers in Japan and Europe."

To view the full announcement click on link to the website below where the full announcement will be available as a PDF file.

[ http://www.ana.co.jp/eng/aboutana/press/index_sm.html ]