All Nippon Airways has flown 1.8 million passengers on its fleet of Boeing Co. 787s over the last year, the airline said Thursday.
As the launch customer for the Dreamliner, ANA marked the anniversary of the first regular 787 flight carrying paying passengers, which took place Nov. 1, 2011. Since then, ANA’s 787 fleet has grown to a total of 16, making the Japan-based carrier the largest Dreamliner operator.
ANA’s 787s have been used on 9,000 flights.
The airline is “delighted” with the 787’s performance over the last year, ANA CEO Shinichiro Ito noted in a press release.
“As ANA works towards becoming Asia’s number one airline, we remain committed to the 787 to help support and drive our growth strategy,” he said.
In September, ANA announced plans to purchase an additional eleven 787-9s, bringing the total number of 787s ordered by ANA to 66.
According to a recent passenger survey, 40.4 percent of ANA’s passengers selected flights specifically to fly on the 787. And 98 percent of the passengers surveyed said they’d like to fly the Dreamliner again, ANA said.
ANA flies the 787 on 12 routes within Japan and three international routes. It’s adding a fourth international route in January.
One the 787’s biggest selling points is its fuel-efficiency. Boeing had said the 787 would save carriers 20 percent in fuel costs compared to similarly sized aircraft. ANA said Thursday that it’s seeing a savings of about 21 percent.
ANA reported a 94.5 percent on-time departure for 787 flights on domestic routes and a 83.6 percent on-time departure for international flights.
“ANA is a shining example of what can be done with the 787 – they are operating it successfully on domestic routes and international routes,” Ray Conner, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a statement.
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