ANA Holding’s takeover of freighter operator Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) from the NYK Group has been pushed back until 23 May as the airline awaits regulatory approval.
The company had been hoping to complete the deal on 1 May, but this date has been pushed back further into the month.
Explaining the decision, ANA said: ”Taking into consideration the time to complete the review of the business combination that will result from the Share Exchange by the relevant authorities in China, etc., the company decided to change the effective date of the share exchange.”
The deal has been pushed back several times because of delays to the approval process.
ANA first announced its plans to purchase Boeing 747-8 freighter operator NCA from the NYK shipping group in March 2023 and had originally anticipated it would complete the deal on 1 October 2023.
NCA is currently owned by shipping group NYK, which decided to sell NCA to ANA due to the ongoing costs of running the cargo airline.
NCA currently operates a fleet of eight 747-8 freighter aircraft and owns five 747-400 freighters that are operated by ASL and Atlas Air.
ANA said at the time the deal was announced that the takeover would dramatically enhance its international air cargo network and products and services based in Japan.
All Nippon Airways operates six Boeing 767 freighters and two Boeing 777 freighters.
It is understood NCA will operate on a separate operating certificate to ANA.
