Formation ANA's earliest ancestor was (also known as Nippon Helicopter and Aeroplane), an airline company founded on 27 December 1952. Nippon Helicopter was the source of what would later be ANA's
International Air Transport Association (IATA)
airline code,
NH. in ANA's 1969–1983 "Mohican Livery" and was replaced with the current logo in 1982 as a livery logo and in 2012 as a corporate logo NH began
helicopter services in February 1953. On 15 December 1953, it operated its first cargo flight between
Osaka and
Tokyo using a
de Havilland Dove, JA5008. In 1955,
Douglas DC-3s began flying for NH as well, ANA's other ancestor was . Although it was founded on 26 December 1952, one day before Nippon Helicopter, it did not begin operations until 20 January 1954, when it began night cargo runs between Osaka and Tokyo, also using a de Havilland Dove. It adopted the DC-3 in early 1957, by which point its route network extended through southern Japan from
Tokyo to
Kagoshima. ANA also introduced Japan's first homegrown turboprop airliner, the
NAMC YS-11 in 1965, replacing
Convair 440s on local routes. maintains a permanent seat on ANA's
board of directors. By 1974, ANA had Japan's largest domestic airline network. ,
Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar and
Airbus A320-200 ANA bought its first widebody aircraft, six
Lockheed L-1011s, in November 1971, following a lengthy sales effort by Lockheed which had involved negotiations between US president
Richard Nixon, Japanese prime minister
Kakuei Tanaka and UK prime minister
Edward Heath (lobbying in favor of engine maker
Rolls-Royce). Tanaka also pressed Japanese regulators to permit ANA to operate on Asia routes as part of the package. The aircraft entered service on the Tokyo-Okinawa route in 1974. The carrier had ordered
McDonnell Douglas DC-10s but cancelled the order at the last minute and switched to Lockheed. It was later revealed that Lockheed had indirectly bribed Prime Minister
Kakuei Tanaka to force this switch: the
scandal led to the arrest of Tanaka and several managers from ANA and Lockheed sales agent
Marubeni for corruption.
Boeing 747s were introduced on the Tokyo-Sapporo and Tokyo-Fukuoka routes in 1976 on
Shikoku routes. The carrier's first
B747s were the short-range SR variant, designed for Japanese domestic routes. On 3 March 1986, ANA started scheduled international flights with a passenger service from
Tokyo to
Guam. Flights to
Los Angeles and
Washington, D.C., followed by year's end, and ANA also entered a service agreement with
American Airlines Airbus equipment such as the A320 and A321 was added to the fleet in the early 1990s, as was the Boeing 747-400 jet. ANA joined the
Star Alliance in October 1999. In February 2001, to promote the opening of
Universal Studios Japan, ANA unveiled the
Woody Woodpecker-themed Woody Jet, using the
Boeing 767-300, for its domestic flights. 2004 saw ANA's profits exceed JAL's for the first time. That year, facing a surplus of slots due to the construction of new airports and the ongoing expansion of
Tokyo International Airport, ANA announced a fleet renewal plan that would replace some of its large aircraft with a greater number of smaller aircraft. s at
Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) Also in 2004, ANA set up low-cost subsidiary
Air Next to operate flights from
Fukuoka Airport starting in 2005, and became the majority shareholder in
Nakanihon Airline Service (NAL) headquartered in
Nagoya Airport. In 2005, ANA renamed NAL to Air Central, and relocated its headquarters to
Chūbu Centrair International Airport. On 12 July 2005, ANA reached a deal with
NYK to sell its 27.6% share in Nippon Cargo Airlines, a joint venture formed between the two companies in 1987. The sale allowed ANA to focus on developing its own cargo division. In 2006, ANA,
Japan Post,
Nippon Express, and
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines founded
ANA & JP Express (AJV), which would operate freighters. ANA is the top shareholder of AJV. It absorbed Air Japan's freighter operations. at
London Heathrow Airport with "Inspiration of JAPAN" tagline in 2024
Air Transport World named ANA its 2007 "Airline of the Year". In 2006, the airline was recognized by FlightOnTime.info as the most punctual scheduled airline between London and Tokyo for the last four consecutive years, based on official British statistics.
Japan Airlines took over the title in 2007. In 2009, ANA announced plans to test an idea as part of the airline's "e-flight" campaign, encouraging passengers on select flights to visit the airport restroom before they board. On 10 November of the same year, ANA also announced "Inspiration of JAPAN", ANA's newest international flight concept, with redesigned cabins initially launched on its
777-300ER aircraft. In July 2011, All Nippon Airways and
AirAsia agreed to form a
low-cost carrier, called
AirAsia Japan, based at
Tokyo's
Narita International Airport. ANA held 51 percent shares and AirAsia held 33 percent voting shares and 16 percent non-voting shares through its wholly owned subsidiary, AA International. The carrier lasted until October 2013, when
AirAsia withdrew from the joint venture; the carrier was subsequently rebranded as
Vanilla Air. In March 2018, All Nippon Airways announced the integration of its two
low cost carrier subsidiaries
Peach Aviation and
Vanilla Air into one entity retaining the Peach name; starting in the second half of FY2018 and to be completed by the end of FY2019. On 29 January 2019, ANA Holdings purchased a 9.5% stake in PAL Holdings,
Philippine Airlines' parent company, for US$95 million. == Parent company ==