ANA announced the opening of a new route between Tokyo Narita and Wuhan, China beginning on April 28, 2016.
ANA boasts flights to more Chinese destinations than any other Japanese airline, and currently flies from Japan to 10 cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian, Shenyang, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Chengdu and Hong Kong. Wuhan is the largest city in central China, and Japanese corporations especially in the automotive sector are increasing their foothold in the region, so ANA expects to generate strong demand for both Chinese leisure travel to Japan, as well as Japanese business travel to Wuhan.
The number of Chinese visitors to Japan continues to soar to record levels. During the first 10 months of the year, about 4,280,000 Chinese visited Japan, an increase of 113% compared to the previous year1.
The new route to Wuhan also greatly increases convenience for travel between China and North America via ANA’s hub at Narita Airport. The planned timetable will see the flight departing Wuhan in the morning and arriving at Narita in the afternoon, while departing Narita in the evening for a nighttime landing back in Wuhan. This will enable same day connections between Wuhan and ANA’s North American destinations. ANA also operates domestic trunk routes from Narita Airport to other major Japanese cities such as Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo, and together with the Experience JAPAN Fare, international passengers will have the chance to explore more of Japan for just JPY10,800 per person2 per domestic segment.
In 2016, ANA will celebrate its 30th anniversary since its first regular international flights.