Japan's ANA expands European flights to tap tourist and cargo demand

FRANKFURT, Germany -- All Nippon Airways has launched new routes connecting three European cities with Tokyo's Haneda Airport to tap demand for visitors to Japan as well as shipments of such high-value products as brand-name goods, pharmaceuticals and semiconductor devices.

The Japanese airline started a Milan route in December and a Stockholm route at the end of January. On Feb. 12, it launched an Istanbul route. These increased the airline's direct flights to Europe to nine, adding to six existing routes connecting to such destinations as Frankfurt, London and Paris. ANA is targeting inbound tourists from Europe, who "stay longer, and many are repeat customers," President Shinichi Inoue told Nikkei.