All Nippon Airways axes M90 order, mulls fleet update plan

The CEO of ANA - All Nippon Airways (NH, Tokyo Haneda) has formally axed the airline's order for up to twenty-five M90s after the manufacturer, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation, decided to permanently shut down the SpaceJet program earlier this month. Outlining ANA Holdings' medium-term management plan on February 15, ANA Group President Koji Shibata called the outcome "disappointing" but said owing to ongoing production delays, contingency fleet plans had been put into place some time ago. The firm order for fifteen M90s with options for ten more for ANA subsidiary ANA Wings dated back to 2008. As early as 2017, as scheduled deliveries failed to appear, ANA began bringing in alternative aircraft, including three DHC-8-Q400s that year and four B737-800s after that. "As a launch customer and an airline operator, it is very disappointing," said Shibata about the Mitsubishi decision. Shibata also provided an update on aircraft orders and delivery timelines. He says it will take until around 2030 for fleet numbers to restore to pre-pandemic levels (around 300 aircraft across the ANA Group) and that there will be a greater emphasis on small and medium-sized jets than previously. The Group's current fleet of seventy-nine B787 types will increase to 104 by 2030 with the delivery of fifteen B787-10s and nine B787-9s (which includes exercising options to take five aircraft). Shibata is sticking to a 2025 timeline for the first of eighteen B777-9s to be delivered. In terms of smaller aircraft, a firm order for twenty B737-8s stands with deliveries also set to start in 2025. That contract includes options for an additional ten B737-8s, which ANA hasn't yet committed to but Shibata said with the SpaceJet's demise, it was time to start thinking about the next round of aircraft orders. "We will need to secure alternative aircraft after 2025," he said. "I think it's time to start selecting the next aircraft."<br/>