ANA : and H.I.S. Enter the Space Age

Capital alliance with PD Aerospace to develop commercial space travel venture

TOKYO, December 1, 2016 -ANA HOLDINGS (hereafter ANAHD), the largest airline group in Japan, and H.I.S., one of Japan's biggest travel agencies, have formed a capital alliance with PD AeroSpace to develop commercial space flight using a new type of spacecraft.
Under the agreement, ANA HD is paying 20.4 million yen for a 7％ shareholding in PD AeroSpace, Japan's only developer of manned spacecraft, while H.I.S. is investing 30 million yen for a 10.3% stake.

PD AeroSpace is currently developing the world's first next generation spacecraft featuring a propulsion system*1 which can alternate between jet engine and rocket engine function and fully reusable suborbital space plane*2. The aim is to launch commercial space flights by the end of 2023.

*1 The engine is comprised of a simple tube structure which incorporates jet engine and rocket engine functions in one by utilizing the characteristics of a pulse detonation engine to enable hypersonic flight. This mechanism makes it possible to fly through normal atmosphere and space in one aircraft.

*2 The space plane uses systems similar to those on a conventional aircraft. It takes off and lands using its jet engine and converts to rocket engine mode when in space.

About PD AeroSpace, LTD.
PD AeroSpace, founded in 2007, is a space-venture company in Japan. PDAS will produce fully reusable sub-orbital spaceplane for unmanned and manned flights. The key concept is Combustion Mode Switch, from jet mode to rocket mode, by using Pulse Detonation technology. PDAS is currently developing prototype engines and small unmanned experimental crafts, and will start commercial operations by the end of 2023.
The future plan is to apply the sub-orbital space plane to orbital space flight and Global high speed point-to-point travel. Contact: +81-52-621-6996

About ANA HOLDINGS Inc.
ANAHD is an aviation group with global operations and a total of 63 consolidated subsidiaries and 17 equity method affiliates. It is divided into passengers and cargo services segments as well as airline related business such as Catering and IT Services. ANAHD was formed in April 2013 and is the parent company of ANA; full service carrier, and Vanilla Air; LCC. ANA has about 260 aircraft flying to over 90 destinations and carrying about 50 million passengers per year. ANA is the largest airline in Japan by revenues and passenger numbers. Management vision of ANAHD is 'It is our goal to be the world's leading airline group in customer satisfaction and value creation.' Contact: +81-3-6735-1111

About H.I.S. Group
H.I.S. Group is a global corporate group consists of 108 companies including H.I.S. Co., Ltd and subsidiaries, and 14 affiliated companies. We also have 525 branches in 67 countries worldwide. We mainly focus on travel, covering theme park management, hotels, transportation and Kyushu Sanko Group. For a more comfortable future of global community, through our businesses, we will contribute to the creative development of humanity and world peace. Contact: +81-3-5908-2346