newstodate.aero
Jul 29, 2024 (newstodate): Now it's a fact: Japan's largest airline ANA is starting operations to Stockholm Arlanda Airport from this winter!
With the first flight on January 31, 2025, the carrier will be offering three weekly rotations connecting Tokyo Haneda Airport and Stockholm Airport with Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
Earlier expected to launch already by June 6, 2024, ANA has been building up its organization in Stockholm with recruitment of key staff, including also on the cargo side.
Already in November 2019, the Japanese carrier ANA, member of the Star Alliance, announced its decision to launch direct non-stop services beginning summer 2020 between Tokyo Haneda Airport and Stockholm Airport, ending 30 years of absence of direct flights, long sought-after, between Sweden and Japan.
The airline was to perform its first flight on the route on June 6, 2020, with three weekly rotations from June 21, 2020, increasing to daily operations from July 20, with Boeing 787-8 aircraft - but then came the coronavirus.
Member of the Star Alliance, ANA will benefit from SAS' change away from Star Alliance to SkyTeam, which opens up for a new competitive environment in the Scandinavian markets.
But it remains to be seen how ANA will be connected to feed traffic to and from other Scandinavian airports after losing its Star Alliance partner SAS..