JANUARY 14, 1999 -- All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., (ANA)today applied to Japan's Ministry of Transport for authority to begin daily service to Chicago from Tokyo on April 13.

ANA is authorized to launch new services under terms of the aviation treaty between Japan and the U.S., which was concluded in 1998. "Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. not currently served by ANA," said Kichisaburo Nomura, ANA President and CEO. "Important in its own right, Chicago also is perfectly placed for connecting traffic to and from cities throughout the northeast, midwest and southeast U.S."

The service will operate non-stop daily with Boeing 747-400 aircraft with 319 seats in First Class, Club ANA business class and Economy Class. Chicago will be the sixth city in the U.S. for ANA, which now serves New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Honolulu. In addition, ANA currently shares codes on 10 routes between Japan and the U.S. with alliance partner United Airlines.

The new service is timed to make convenient connections for passengers in both cities. NH 012 will depart Tokyo's Narita Airport daily at 1115 and arrive in Chicago at 0845 the same day. Flight NH 011 will depart Chicago at 1120 and arrive in Tokyo at 1400 the next day, with immediate connections on ANA to Singapore and Bangkok, plus cities in Japan.

Chicago is one of the most popular destinations for Japanese visitors to the U.S., and more than 250 Japanese companies have offices in the Chicago area. ANA has opened a sales, marketing and administrative office in Chicago headed by Naomichi Terazaki, newly appointed General Manager.

In 1998, ANA carried more than 40 million passengers, making it Asia's largest and the world's eighth largest airline. With the addition of Chicago, ANA serves 31 cities in 18 countries outside Japan, plus 34 cities in Japan, where it carries nearly 50% of traffic.

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