There are aviation milestones, and then there are statements of intent. This week, All Nippon Airways (ANA) quietly but confidently marked ten years of continuous daily service between Sydney and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, a route that has come to symbolise resilience, loyalty and long-term belief in the Australia–Japan travel corridor.
Since its launch on 12 December 2015, the Sydney–Haneda service has matured into one of the most strategically important links between the two nations. It is a route that did not blink when the world did.
During the darkest months of the pandemic, ANA’s Sydney–Tokyo flight became the only scheduled passenger service operating between Australia and Japan, a lifeline that kept people, diplomacy and commerce moving when borders otherwise slammed shut. Many airlines paused. ANA stayed.
That decision has since been vindicated. As travel demand roared back, ANA doubled down on Australia, expanding to two daily flights from late March 2023. Today, Sydney stands as ANA’s flagship Australian gateway, connecting travellers seamlessly into Tokyo and beyond.
Maki Matsuzaki, Managing Director for Australia and Oceania and General Manager of ANA’s Sydney branch, described the milestone as both personal and professional.
“Reaching this ten-year milestone is a proud moment for ANA, particularly as we remained the only scheduled passenger link between Australia and Japan during the pandemic,” Matsuzaki said. “Sydney is the iconic gateway for our Australian passengers, and our expansion to two flights per day reflects our deep commitment to this market.”
Commitment, in ANA’s world, is not measured only in seat capacity or schedules. It is felt in the detail.
In the weeks leading up to the anniversary, ANA’s Sydney team staged a series of airside and check-in celebrations. On the anniversary itself, passengers departing on flights NH890 and NH880 were presented with commemorative keychains at the boarding gate, personally handed over by Executive Vice President and General Manager Asia Oceania, Naoaki Takayanagi, alongside Matsuzaki.
Each gift bag was hand-finished by the Sydney team, an understated nod to omotenashi, Japan’s deeply ingrained philosophy of thoughtful, personalised hospitality.
The celebrations continued landside, with ANA staff, service partners and industry stakeholders gathering at **Sydney Airport Corporation Limited headquarters for a surprise performance by ANA’s “Haneda Orchestra”, a band made up entirely of airline staff, from pilots and cabin crew to ground operations and head office teams.
It was a reminder that aviation, at its best, is still a people business.
After a decade, ANA’s Sydney–Tokyo route has become more than a flight number. It is a quiet, constant presence in an industry often defined by turbulence, linking Sydney Airport with Haneda Airport and Australia with Japan every single day.
by Jason Smith – (c) 2025
Read Time: 2 minutes.
About the Writer.
Jason Smith has the kind of story you can’t fake, built on long flights, new cities, and that unmistakable hum of hotel life that gets under your skin and never quite leaves. Half American, half Asian, he grew up surrounded by the steady rhythm of the tourism trade in the U.S., where his family helped others see the world long before he did.
Eager to carve out his own path, Jason packed his bags for Bangkok and the Asian Institute of Hospitality & Management, where he majored in Hotel Management and found a career and a calling. From there came years on the road, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, each stop adding another thread to his craft.
He made his mark in Thailand, eventually becoming Director of Sales for one of the country’s leading hotel chains. Then came COVID-19: borders closed, flights grounded, and a new chapter began.
Back home in America, Jason turned his knack for connection into words, joining Global Travel Media to tell the stories behind the check-ins written with the same warmth and honesty that have always defined him.
