All Nippon Airways (ANA) has signed a 10-year agreement with Safran Nacelles for the maintenance and repair of its Airbus A380 nacelles.

Under the deal, ANA will also have access to Safran Nacelles’ pool of spare parts and components, on top of nacelle-related MRO services.

Safran Nacelles, which is the original equipment manufacturer of the A380 engine nacelles, will also place a spare nacelle air inlet at Honolulu, the destination for ANA’s A380s.

Cirium’s fleets data indicates that the Star Alliance carrier flies two A380s with one more on order. The widebodies are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines.

ANA’s agreement with Safran Nacelles will come under its NacelleLife programme, with support services available at both Tokyo and Honolulu.

Separately, ANA Holdings, which owns ANA, will begin a series of drone tests, in Zambia and locally in Japan.

In Zambia, ANA Holdings will work with Aerosense and the National Centre for Global Health and Medicine, in developing drones for use in medical purposes, such as the transporting of blood samples. In Goto City, ANA Holdings will work with the local authorities to develop and create an an inter-island transportation network.

Source: FlightGlobal.com