Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build a strategic partnership between the two Japanese airlines.

The partnership will consist of three key elements: code share, block space and maintenance support.

Within the first half of the 2018 fiscal year, NCA and ANA plan to add codeshares to each other’s flights, subject to authorisation from the relevant authorities, which will leverage NCA’s Boeing 747 Freighter operation to North America and Europe and ANA’s Boeing 767 operation to China and Asia and ANA’s plans to introduce Boeing 777 Freighters, providing customers with increased choice.

The block space partnership will expand the existing interline and block space agreement with the aim to utilise each other’s cargo space and provide a reliable and convenient connection service.

The maintenance support will mean ANA allocates resources to support NCA’s operations, enabling active sharing of knowledge and enhancement of the technical abilities of both carriers.

This is the second MoU that NCA has signed in less than a month, having signed a strategic partnership with Singapore Airlines Cargo in February to provide codeshare services on routes between Tokyo and Singapore from 1 April 2018, subject to regulatory approval.