OREANDA-NEWS. July 11, 2012. Shinichiro Ito, President and CEO of ANA Group, has been honored with the ‘Executive Leadership Award’ at the Airline Strategy Awards 2012, run by the Flightglobal publication Airline Business. The award ceremony was held last night, [8th July] at the Hounourable Society of Lincoln's Inn in London.

Airline Business, one of the most respected publications in the airline industry, credited Mr. Ito with “aggressively leading ANA Group to assume the leadership role, domestically and internationally, in the Japanese airline industry, and positioning the carrier for long-term financial prosperity through a number of strategic actions.”

The citation also highlighted the action that Mr Ito has taken in the following areas of the business:
• Fleet - launch customer for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
• Network – significant expansion from Haneda
• Commercial cooperation – numerous code-sharing and joint venture agreements
• Product – ‘Inspiration of Japan’ luxury brand
• Business diversification – launch of Peach and AirAsia Japan
• Cost reduction – both over the long term and post-earthquake
• Organization – creation of a group structure with strategy at the holding company level.

Mr. Ito commented: “We are focused on enhancing our customer satisfaction, quality, and financial performance to achieve our goal of becoming the Number One Airline Group in Asia. As the aviation environment continues to change dramatically, ANA has been upgrading its service, especially in Business Class, while achieving cost reductions, and expanding our international network.

I am very pleased that our efforts have been recognized with this award, and believe it will give all of our employees' confidence, and ensure the effectiveness of our corporate strategy.”

ANA is Japan's number one carrier by passenger numbers and reported a 43 per cent increase in operating income to a record Y97 billion for fiscal year 2011.