ANA, Japan’s leading carrier, has signed a code-share agreement with Scandinavian Airlines System, one of its fellow members in the Star Alliance. The agreement was signed between Shinichiro Ito, President and CEO of ANA, and Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO of Scandinavian Airlines, in Tokyo yesterday.

From 23rd of May 2011, passengers will be able to book with ANA to travel on SAS operated services between Tokyo and Copenhagen. SAS will place its flight code on ANA operated flights between Tokyo’s Narita International Airport and Sapporo, Osaka and Fukuoka. ANA will also place its ANA flight code on SAS operated flights within Europe at a later stage.

Shinichiro Ito, ANA President and CEO, said, “We are pleased to welcome Scandinavian Airlines as our code-share partner and look forward to cooperating with each other on our Japanese and European networks. This will give our customers access to a wider network across Europe.” 

Rickard Gustafson, President and CEO of Scandinavian Airlines System, said: “It is almost to the day 60 years since we established the first route between Scandinavia and Tokyo. Tokyo is now one of our most popular long-haul destinations, and this agreement with ANA signifies the importance of Japan in the SAS network and the possibility to transport our customers to other important destinations in Japan.”