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All Nippon Airways hits cargo revenue record for 5th consecutive quarter

Cargo has been lifeline for Japanese carrier during pandemic

All Nippon Airways operates a fleet of 11 freighters. (Photo: ANA)

All Nippon Airways on Tuesday reported a record high in cargo revenue of $863 million for the fiscal year third quarter ended Dec. 30 on higher demand from shippers seeking to avoid crowded ocean shipping lanes.

Popular items ANA carried were automotive parts, semiconductors, electronics and COVID vaccines. Much of the activity was on trans-Pacific and intra-Asia lanes.

For the first nine months, cargo revenues increased 160% versus 2019 to $2.2 billion.

Strong cargo performance helped the carrier eke out an overall quarterly operating profit — $869,000 — for the first time in two years. 


ANA is a large passenger airline with a cargo division that operates nine Boeing 767-300 medium-size freighters and two large 777 freighters, according to a March 2021 fact sheet.

The Tokyo-based carrier introduced the 777 cargo jets on the Tokyo-Hong Kong and Tokyo-Taipei routes in October and on the Tokyo-Qingdao, China, route in November. It also deployed several mini-freighters, passenger aircraft used exclusively to support cargo customers, during the quarter.

Cargo tonnage for the nine-month period fell 3% to 932,000 tons compared to the pre-pandemic level due to a large drop in domestic cargo business. International movements actually increased 10.5%, which was also reflected by 17.7% growth in cargo-ton-kilometers (4.2 million).

Passenger volume was severely depleted by COVID challenges during the first half of the fiscal year, but passenger demand for domestic flights significantly improved in October after Japan lifted a state of emergency. International passenger revenue and seats filled were about 10% of 2019 levels for the nine-month period.


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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, he was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. Eric is based in Portland, Oregon. He can be reached for comments and tips at [email protected]