MANILA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- ANA Holdings Inc. (ANA HD) will invest 95 million U.S. dollars in Philippine Airlines Holdings Inc. (PAL Holdings) and acquire 9.5 percent of PAL Holding's outstanding shares, PAL said Tuesday.
ANA HD is the parent of All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan's largest and five-star airline for six consecutive years. PAL Holdings is the parent of Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL), the Philippine flag carrier and the largest airline in the Philippines.
ANA HD will acquire the shares from Trustmark Holdings Corporation, which is owned by the Lucio Tan family and is the largest shareholder of PAL Holdings, PAL said in a statement.
"This purchase underscores ANA HD's belief in the dynamism of the Asian region and the great potential of the Philippines' multi-awarded flag carrier and its confidence that the Philippine air travel market will continue to serve as an economic leader for the ASEAN region," PAL said.
Additionally, PAL said the investment by ANA HD "heralds the dawn of a new era of growth for PAL, which has embarked on a full-scale expansion program that has seen its fleet and network grow to almost 100 aircraft and 80 destinations in four continents."
Shinya Katanozaka, president of ANA Holdings Inc., said, "Asia is a key growth market and we believe Philippine Airlines is in an excellent operational position to capitalize on both the strong uptick in air traffic growth as well as the vibrant, expanding Philippine economy."
"We look forward to expanding our business relationship with Philippine Airlines so we can continue to serve our passengers even better," Katanozaka said.
Philippine Airlines currently operates 84 flights weekly on nine routes to Japan and ANA operates 14 flights weekly on two routes to the Philippines.
The two carriers have codeshare operations on Japan-Philippine routes and domestic routes within Japan and the Philippines, linking a total of 16 Japanese and 11 Philippine destinations.
