Shinichi Inoue, CEO of All Nippon Airways (ANA), has expressed his intention to continue the partnership with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).
He answered questions from a group of foreign media during an interview at the IATA Annual General Meeting (IATA AGM) held in Dubai.
Scandinavian Airlines will leave the Star Alliance, which ANA is a member of, on August 31, and will join SkyTeam, the same alliance as Air France KLM which provides management support, from the following day. ANA plans to launch a new route from Tokyo/Haneda to Stockholm in the winter schedule.
Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, where Scandinavian Airlines is headquartered, was used by 22 million people in 2023. It has well-developed routes to various places in Europe, including Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and other Nordic regions.
In terms of cross-alliance partnerships with SkyTeam member airlines, there are many, including ANA’s partnerships with Garuda Indonesia, ITA Airways, Vietnam Airlines, Japan Airlines (JAL) with Korean Air, Aeromexico, China Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines. The Tokyo/Haneda to Milan route, which ANA also plans to open in the winter schedule, will be available for codeshare with ITA Airways.
While CEO Inoue mentioned that no decision has been made yet regarding the partnership with Scandinavian Airlines, he said, “We have had a good relationship with Scandinavian Airlines for 35 years,” and, citing the book ‘Moments of Truth’ by Jan Carlzon, former CEO of Scandinavian Airlines known for turning the company’s financial losses around, he said, “We are very fond of Carlzon and the airline Scandinavian Airlines, and we hope this relationship can continue.”
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