The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has finally given the green light for All Nippon Airways (ANA) takeover of fellow Japanese carrier Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA). The announcement comes over a year after ANA first mooted an interest in taking over its closest rival in March 2023. NCA, Japan’s only cargo-only airline, is owned by Japanese logistics giant Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and currently operates a fleet of eight Boeing 747-8Fs and flies from 13 airports located throughout Japan.
In a statement released on January 30, 2025, the JFTC said that while it had given consideration to industry concerns about the impact of the takeover on competition in the Japanese cargo market, and on routes between Japan and the US, China, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Europe, in particular, it had found that there was ample competition on these routes and that it would remain post-merger.
While the JTFC had initially questioned the competitive landscape on freight-only routes between Japan and Los Angeles International (LAX) and Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD), it found that the newly-merged entity would still only have a market share of 30% to Los Angeles and 35% in Chicago, leaving ample capacity for other operators to share on these two key routes between Asia and the US.
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To provide reassurance to the Japanese regulators, both ANA and NCA also assured the authorities that they would seek to enter into a block space agreement with rival US-based freighter carrier Polar Air Cargo and would additionally appoint a lawyer and an economist to monitor the progression of the merger so that there was no opportunity that market dominance would ensue. The JFTC said the measures “created an effective check so that the group of companies involved cannot freely influence prices”.
“We expect the networks of ANA and NCA to complement each other,” said Shinichi Inoue, All Nippon Airways’ CEO. The aim is to enhance our competitive advantages by fully utilizing the operational capabilities of both carriers and to offer convenient options for customers.”
However, the deal is still awaiting approval from competition authorities in China and Singapore. The JFTC says they are working with the relevant agencies in those countries. A similar situation transpired in 2023 when Chinese and Japanese competition agencies delayed ANA’s purchase of NCA.
ANA’s dominance of the Japan freight-only market would seem to be cemented with the takeover of NCA. ANA’s own dedicated freighter fleet consists of six Boeing 767-300Fs and two 777-200Fs, with a further two 777-200Fs on order. The carrier also has a pair of 777-8Fs on order from the US manufacturer. Its closest rival after NCA is Japan Airlines Cargo, which has a fleet of three Boeing 767-300F freighters. ANA also carried vast amounts of cargo in the belly space of its passenger fleet that serves 172 routes to 94 cities across 24 countries worldwide.
