All Nippon Airways' air cargo unit expects to post its first profit

All Nippon Airways' air cargo unit expects to post its first profit since it started seven years ago in fiscal 2011 on the back of higher spending by Chinese consumers on Sony electronics and Toyota hybrid cars, the Shipping Gazette reports.

"The growth in cargo demand is going to be intra-Asia," said ANA cargo chief Kiyoshi Tonomoto at the company's Tokyo headquarters. He forecast that sales would likely double to JPY200 billion (US$2.3 billion), without providing a timeframe in a Bloomberg report.

Mr Tonomoto said ANA's focus on regional cargo has enabled it to recover more quickly from the global downturn in air freight demand.

The report noted that ANA opened a cargo hub in Okinawa in October to support its intra-Asia business, a location that permits night flights without the same restrictions as in Tokyo. The base is also within four hours' flying time of Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul and Shanghai.

Mr Tonomoto said the Okinawa facility will enable ANA to benefit from Chinese demand for air cargo, which has recovered to the levels not seen before the Lehman Brothers collapse in September 2008.

Japanese companies will continue using air freight to serve China "even as they build more plants in the country," he said, adding that they are reluctant to make their most sophisticated parts overseas despite lower wages.

"Core parts will always be manufactured in Japan," Mr Tonomoto said.
He added that ANA plans to add two more freighters to its all Boeing cargo fleet by 2011, bringing the number of aircraft to 10.

The carrier's international cargo shipments rose 3.7 per cent in September compared to the same month last year, which the report said was its first increase in 11 months.

Source: Transportweekly