Flight International - 10 April 2018

BUSINESS AVIATION

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22 | Flight International | 10-16 April 2018 flightglobal.com

A

NA Holdings, parent com-

pany of Japanese carrier All

Nippon Airways, is making a

foray into the business aircraft

market, via a partnership with

local charter operator and trading

house Sojitz. ANA has also

signed a separate deal with

Honda Aircraft to introduce the

HA-420 HondaJet on its feeder

routes, particularly within the

Japanese market, the airline says.

ANA Business Jet is scheduled

to launch operations by the third

quarter. ANA owns a 51% stake

in the venture, with the rest held

by Sojitz. The Tokyo-headquar-

tered company represents Bom-

bardier and Boeing Business Jets

in the Japanese market, and oper-

ates a diverse fleet of aircraft for

charter, largely through partner-

ships with other operators.

ANA Business Jet will provide

onward travel in a private aircraft

to the carrier’s scheduled passen-

gers arriving in Japan. The high-

end offering is also available to

customers connecting to ANA’s

scheduled services bound for

North America and Europe.

“ANA Business Jet will drasti-

cally shorten travel time and

allow passengers to travel in com-

fort and in privacy,” says Sojitz.

Clients can also use the service for

ad hoc charter flights, it adds.

POTENTIAL SALES

Meanwhile, ANA has signed a

memorandum of understanding

with Honda Aircraft, designed it

says to introduce Japanese busi-

ness aircraft users and commer-

cial airline customers to the

HondaJet. The companies have

not disclosed details of potential

sales or leasing arrangements for

the light business jet, but say the

seven-seat aircraft will be used for

charter and feeder flights.

Honda Aircraft will support

these operations, including

establishing a ground support

framework at various ANA tran-

sit locations. “Through this stra-

tegic partnership and use of the

HondaJet, ANA will create new

demand to utilise business jets,

in particular for travelers of vari-

ous Japanese entities who value

convenience and privacy in their

S

outh African businessman

and long-time Embraer cus-

tomer John McCormick has taken

delivery of the first Phenom

300E. The handover of aircraft se-

rial number 448 came just over

five months after the launch of

the upgraded business jet – the

second iteration of the nine-year-

old Phenom 300 – which secured

LAUNCH ELLIS TAYLOR PERTH

Business need attracts ANA to sector

Joint venture with Sojitz will offer passengers private, direct flights from Japan and connect with scheduled services

HANDOVER KATE SARSFIELD LONDON

Embraer delivers new-generation Phenom 300E

Honda Aircraft

Embraer

Carrier also could employ HondaJets for charter and feeder flights

Variant forms part of wider effort to enhance portfolio and lift sales

overseas travel,” says ANA

Holdings president and chief ex-

ecutive Shinya Katanozaka.

ANA’s move into the business

jet market comes around a year

after rival Japan Airlines part-

nered with Dassault Falcon

Services, a subsidiary of Dassault

Aviation, to offer bespoke private

jet connections for passengers

from Paris to destinations in

Africa and Europe.

Flight Fleets Analyzer records

a global fleet of 79 HondaJets. The

USA is home to the largest inven-

tory with 61 examples, followed

by the UK and Germany, with

three aircraft each.

The Greensboro, North

Carolina-based airframer is pro-

gressively ramping up produc-

tion of the GE Honda Aero En-

gines HF120-powered type to

meet market demand. Deliveries

climbed from 23 units in 2016 to

more than 43 last year, and the

company expects a “steady” in-

crease in output in 2018. ■

Brazilian, European and US vali-

dation in March.

The Phenom 300E – short for

Enhanced – features a redesigned

cabin, restyled and improved

seating designed by Embraer

Aero Seating Technologies in

Titusville, Florida, and a high-

end in-flight entertainment and

cabin management system sup-

plied by Lufthansa Technik.

Embraer describes the Phenom

300 as the “best-selling and most-

delivered light business jet for the

last six years”. Flight Fleets Ana-

lyzer records a global inventory

of nearly 450 examples.

The E-variant is one of a wave

of upgrades that Embraer is intro-

ducing across its business jet

range to bolster appeal and help

rekindle sales in the fragile and

competitive marketplace.

The airframer will shortly de-

liver its first Legacy 450s and 500s

with a reduced cabin altitude of

5,800ft – 200ft lower than their

predecessors – when flying at an

altitude of 45,000ft. The midsize

pair will also feature restyled pas-

senger seats as standard from the

second quarter, says Embraer.

An upgraded version of the en-

try-level Phenom 100 was intro-

duced in April 2017, featuring a

Garmin G3000 flightdeck and

higher-thrust Pratt & Whitney

Canada PW617F1-E engines. ■