Air Nippon

IATA ICAO Callsign
EL ANK ANK AIR
Founded March 1974
Commenced operations 10 October 1974
Ceased operations 1 April 2012 (merged into ANA)
Operating bases Tokyo International Airport
Alliance Star Alliance
Fleet size 35
Parent company All Nippon Airways
Website www.air-nippon.co.jp
Former Air Nippon logo
Shiodome City Center

Air Nippon Co., Ltd. (エアーニッポン株式会社 Eā Nippon Kabushiki-gaisha), was a regional airline based in the Shiodome City Center complex in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.[1]

A wholly owned subsidiary of All Nippon Airways (ANA), it mainly operated short routes and flights to isolated islands in support of ANA's domestic services. Its main base was Tokyo International Airport.[2]

Code data

In April 2004, Air Nippon adopted ANA flight codes and numbers for all domestic services.

History

An Air Nippon NAMC YS-11.
An Air Nippon Boeing 737-200.
Air Nippon Boeing 737-500 at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda)
Air Nippon Boeing 737-700 at Memanbetsu Airport

The company was founded by ANA, Japan Airlines and TOA Domestic as Nippon Kinkyori Airways[3] (日本近距離航空 Nippon Kinkyori Kōkū, lit. Japan Short-Distance Airline, NKK[3]) in March 1974 and started operations on 10 October 1974. The name Air Nippon was adopted in 1987, and the abbreviation ANK comes from the full, somewhat redundant name Air Nippon Kabushiki kaisha (lit. Air Nippon joint stock corporation.).

As part of ANA's reorganisation, Air Nippon's domestic operations are being consolidated into the main airline. It had 12 Boeing 737-200 aircraft. ANA and Air Nippon used different liveries and IATA codes on domestic flights until April 2004, when Air Nippon adopted ANA livery and ANA flight numbers. As an ANA subsidiary, it is considered a full Star Alliance member. However, on Republic of China flights before April 2008, Air Nippon's IATA code EL was still used due to political reasons and these flights are not considered being Star Alliance flights.

In 1998 the airline was headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo.[4]

In 2002 Air Nippon was headquartered on the 5th floor of the Utility Center Building (ユーティリティセンタービル Yūtiriti Sentā Biru) by Tokyo International Airport in Ōta.[5] Shiodome City Center, which became headquarters of Air Nippon and parent company ANA, opened in 2003.[6]

The airline employed 1,686 staff (at March 2007). Until 2010, Air Nippon operated the wholly owned subsidiary airline Air Nippon Network operating feeder services; however, on 1 October 2010, Air Nippon Network was merged into ANA Wings.[2]

On 1 April 2012, Air Nippon was merged to All Nippon Airways.

Destinations

Fleet

The Air Nippon fleet consisted of the following aircraft throughout operations:[2][7]

Air Nippon Fleet
Aircraft Total Photo
Airbus A320-200 3
Boeing 737-200 11
Boeing 737-400 2
Boeing 737-500 25
Boeing 737-700 16
Boeing 737-800 8
Boeing 767-300ER 3
Bombardier Dash 8-300 5
NAMC YS-11 ?

References

  1. ↑ "会社概要." Air Nippon. Retrieved on 19 May 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. p. 64.
  3. 1 2 "World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 27-April 2, 1991. 62.
  4. ↑ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. April 1–7, 1998. "All Nippon Airways" 45.
  5. ↑ "会社案内." Air Nippon. 7 February 2002. Retrieved on 20 May 2009.
  6. ↑ "Shiodome City Center." Nihon Sekkei. Retrieved on May 19, 2009.
  7. ↑ Air Nippon fleet list at ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2009-12-30.

External links

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