All Nippon Airlines, demands Boeing 787 delivery plan
All Nippon Airways, the first customer for Boeing’s 787 plane, has demanded that the plane maker provide a delivery schedule for the twice-delayed aircraft by the end of this month, on which it will base compensation claims.
All Nippon, with 50 of Boeing’s 787 planes on order, is expanding its fleet by 15% and needs the aircraft to fly new international routes in 2010, Osamu Shinobe, the head of the airline’s 787 program, said.
All Nippon is expanding flights to India and China as it loses domestic passengers to a discount rival. The Tokyo-based airline will be forced to use older, less fuel-efficient aircraft that it had planned to retire because Boeing has fallen about eight months behind schedule.
”The 787 will have a big impact on fuel costs on long-distance flights,” said Osuke Itazaki, an analyst in Tokyo at Credit Suisse Group. ”Airlines with fuel-efficient planes, such as the 787, will have a competitive advantage.” He declined to estimate how much compensation All Nippon would claim.
All Nippon needs the Boeing 787s, which are 20% more fuel-efficient than similar-sized aircraft because they use carbon fibre composites, to replace its 767 planes. The planes will increase revenue by about 6 billion yen ($A63 million) and cut costs by 4.6 billion yen a year, All Nippon said last July.
All Nippon was originally scheduled to receive the first 787 Dreamliner in May and have all of the planes by March 2016. Now, it will not get the first plane until early 2009.
”The longer we wait, the more servicing of the 767s we will need to do,” said Mr Shinobe, an executive vice-president at All Nippon. ”Some of them may become unfit for flying.”
The 787 program has been delayed because of unfinished parts from suppliers. Airbus, whose A380 super jumbo was delayed several times, had to pay compensation to its customers before the delivery of the plane last October, two years behind schedule.
Qantas booked a gain of $104 million in its full-year earnings in 2006 on compensation for the A380 delays.
All Nippon is focusing on overseas operations as it loses domestic customers, along with Japan Airlines, to discount carrier Skymark Airlines. Fewer flights and more competition led to a 2.3% drop in domestic passengers at All Nippon in the last quarter.
The opening of a fourth runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo in 2010 will allow the airport to add 30,000 international flights a year, according to the transport ministry. All Nippon wants more slots at the airport, Mr Shinobe said. The airline has not yet decided on what overseas routes it will fly as the government currently limits flights to within 2000 kilometres of the airport, Mr Shinobe said.
Boeing said last month it has suspended some work on the short-haul 787-3 model to focus on the larger 787-8.
All Nippon, which has ordered a mixture of both planes, was originally scheduled to receive the 787-3 two years after the 787-8.
”The delay won’t affect our introduction of the 787 as we were already expecting the delivery of the 787-3s later on,” Mr Shinobe said.
Japan Air said last month after Boeing’s announcement of the delay in the 787-3 that it was considering buying Airbus A350 XWB planes to help increase its fleet’s fuel efficiency.
All Nippon would listen to a presentation from Airbus on its new A350 XWB if offered, Mr Shinobe said, adding that the airline was committed to the 787 order.
The airline is also considering an order for smaller jets from three aircraft manufacturers. President Mineo Yamamoto said in January that it aims to make a decision on one of the jets seating fewer than 100 passengers by the end of March.
The airline has received details from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, known as MRJ, as well Bombardier and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica for their planes, Mr Shinobe said.
”We will try to make a decision by the end of this month,” he said.
