Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- All Nippon Airways Co.’s first Boeing Co. 787 landed in Japan today, ending more than three years of delays for the initial operator of the aircraft.
All Nippon, which took delivery of the 787 two days ago in Everett, Washington, landed the plane at 9:03 a.m. Asia’s largest listed carrier by sales plans the jet’s first commercial flight next month before starting regular services in November.
The company, the biggest airline customer for the medium- sized jet, aims to use the plane to pare fuel costs and add destinations, such as Frankfurt, currently only reachable with larger jets. The Tokyo-based carrier, set to receive 12 of the planes over the next six months, is boosting international flights by 16 percent in the year ending March 31.
“The plane will help ANA reduce fuel costs and should improve its bottom line,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees the equivalent of $650 million in assets in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “It’s a plus for Boeing as well, as they can finally start cranking up their production rate and filling orders.”
ANA fell 2.5 percent to 238 yen as of 9:05 a.m. in Tokyo. The shares have declined 21 percent this year, compared with a 16 percent drop in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.
ANA has 55 of the 787 Dreamliners, whose fuselage is made of composite materials, on order. The plane is 20 percent more fuel-efficient to operate than comparably sized jets, due to lighter materials and an all-electric system that doesn’t divert air from the engines for power, according to Boeing.
The use of the composite materials and manufacturing process pushed back the jet’s entry into service seven times since 2007. ANA was originally due to receive the jet in 2008.
The carrier predicts the planes will save it about 10 billion yen ($131 million) a year in jet kerosene costs after its gets all of the planes by March 2018. The carrier is predicting net income of 20 billion yen in the year ending March 31.
Jet kerosene gained 37 percent in Singapore trading in the past year, reaching $119.50 a barrel in the city on Sept. 27.
ANA plans to offer the first passenger flight with the 787 on Oct. 26 as a special trip between Tokyo and Hong Kong. The trip costs 78,700 yen for a return economy class ticket on the plane and an overnight stay in a hotel, according to the carrier.
Regular domestic service will start between Haneda and Okayama and Hiroshima on Nov. 1, and intercontinental service between Haneda and Frankfurt in January.
ANA’s first 787 has 264 seats, with 252 in economy class and 12 in business class, while long-haul flights will have 158 seats.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Cooper in Tokyo at ccooper1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Neil Denslow at ndenslow@bloomberg.net
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