ANA in challenge to DHL and FedEx

All Nippon Airways plans to challenge DHL and Federal Express in Asia by joining forces with two Japanese transport groups to launch a door-to-door express parcel service.
The airline will take a 34 per cent stake in the venture, targeting business-to-business customers, according to a memorandum of understanding signed yesterday.
Nippon Express, the general transport company, and Kintetsu World Express will each take a 28 per cent share while other forwarding groups will take the remaining 10 per cent.
The venture is to begin operating next April. The name and total investment have not been decided.
The business will use a freight hub developed by ANA on Okinawa, close to mainland China. ANA will provide aircraft, while Nippon Express and Kintetsu will contribute ground-based logistics.
European and US delivery groups dominate the Asian express parcel market and are adding infrastructure. Germany’s DHL, which leads with about a one-third share, said last month it would build a USD 175m north-east Asian hub in Shanghai.
Second-ranked Federal Express opened a Chinese domestic hub this year and plans to shift its Asia-Pacific centre from Subic Bay in the Philippines to a larger facility in Guangzhou in 2009.
Satoru Aoyama, analyst at Fitch Ratings, said a challenge for the ANA venture would be to draw custom from outside the three partners’ roster of Japanese clients.
“To challenge the big companies they will need to invest heavily,” he said