All Nippon Airways appoints Globe Air Cargo to reflect confidence in French market.doc

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has appointed Globe Air Cargo as its general sales agent in France as the airline boosts its cargo capacity between Paris and Japan by over 30% with the addition of more Boeing 777 operations.

Globe Air Cargo, part of the European Cargo Services (ECS) group, will market capacity on ANA’s daily flights from Paris to Tokyo Narita. These are currently a combination of both Boeing 777 and 747-400 operations but the intended switch to a total B777 schedule by early 2010 will significantly increase its cargo capacity on the route.

John O’Shea, Assistant Manager European Cargo for ANA, said: “France is one of the few economies beginning to show signs of expanding in the latest purchasing managers’ index and we are confident about the market’s prospects. In 2010, we celebrate 20 years of air services between Japan and France and the demand for luxury French goods such as perfumes, designer products and foodstuffs remains strong among consumers across Japan.

“The introduction of more B777’s on the route – with 30-40% more capacity than the 747-400 – is timely given the signs of economic improvement and we believe Globe Air Cargo is the best partner for us to realise our potential in the French market. This is the first time we have appointed a GSA in France and the size of Globe’s network and sales team, coupled with them being a French company with a high quality reputation, means they are well equipped to meet our sales and service expectations.”

Under the terms of the contract, effective from September, Globe will market ANA’s cargo capacity to freight forwarders throughout France. In addition to Narita, the airline’s network offers fast connections to other Japanese destinations such as Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Niigata, Okinawa – where ANA opens a new cargo hub on October 26th - Sapporo and Sendai.

French forwarders can also access the Chinese market via ANA’s Narita hub to cities such as Dalian and Xiamen.

Adrien Thominet, Director of European Cargo Services, Globe’s parent, said: “ANA has an excellent reputation and a great network. With Globe Air Cargo’s extensive sales coverage in France, we are confident of meeting the high targets and quality standards ANA has set.”