The two companies hosted a special reception for customers in Chicago to celebrate the introduction of double-daily flights to Tokyo, which commence on September 1st 2013. Addressing guests at the event, Mr Akira Okada, Executive Vice President and Member of the Board of All Nippon Airways, said: “Last year marked the 60th anniversary of ANA. To complement 60 years of our journey, we have been making quantum leaps in terms of expanding our global network. Specifically in the United States, we launched our Seattle service last July, double-daily flights from New York in October and San Jose, California in January of this year. Now we will commence our double-daily service from your beloved City of Chicago. I believe our added service will provide you with more flexible connecting flights with both our passenger and freighter services throughout Asia.” Globe Air Cargo, part of ECS Group, has acted as ANA’s cargo general sales agent in Chicago since 2006 and also represents the airline in New York. The airline’s Boeing 777-300 aircraft operating these routes offer capacity of between 31-34 tons per flight. In the U.S., ANA also serves Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Jose. Adrien Thominet, Chief Operating Officer of ECS Group, said: “ANA has a strong cargo proposition which is very appealing to customers. It operates prime cargo routes – including onward connections ex Japan to China, India and Asia with Boeing 767 freighters, B767 and B787 in addition to the excellent cargo capacity of its B777-300 aircraft. The airline also has award-winning on-time performance. We are proud to represent ANA in New York and Chicago and we know its fast-growing route network and frequencies will quickly gain the support of the air cargo communities in both cities.” Regular cargo traffic ex New York and Chicago to Japan includes automotive parts, pharmaceuticals, perishables, electronics, steel products and whiskey.