Private company

Nippon Cargo Airlines

Logo: Nippon Cargo Airlines, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Japanese cargo airline

Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) is a Japanese cargo airline with its head office on the property of Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, outside Tokyo. It operates scheduled cargo services in Asia and to Europe and North America. Its main base is Narita Airport.2 It is part of Nippon Yusen.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

Sep 21, 1978Founded1

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Nippon Cargo Airlines, Boeing 747-8F, JA14KZ - NRT
Photo: Masakatsu Ukon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) is a Japanese cargo airline with its head office on the property of Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, outside Tokyo. It operates scheduled cargo services in Asia and to Europe and North America. Its main base is Narita Airport.2

Corporate structure

Nippon Cargo Airlines is part of a group headed by Nippon Yusen. 22 entities, 7 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Nippon Yusen 東京都 千代田区, Japan
    • Nippon Cargo Airlines Narita International Airport
    • Camellia Line Subsidiary · 沖浜町
    • Kinkai Yusen Kaisha Subsidiary · Tokyo, Japan
    • NYK Cruises Subsidiary · Yokohama, Japan
    • Yusen Logistics Subsidiary · Tokyo, Japan
    • Ocean Network Express Stake · 38% · Tokyo
    • NS United Kaiun Stake · 18.04%
    • Yusen Logistics (Europe) B.V. Subsidiary · 100% · Schiphol, Netherlands
      • Yusen Logistics (Deutschland) GmbH Subsidiary · Düsseldorf, Germany
    • LNG NORTH-SOUTH SHIPPING COMPANY (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD. Subsidiary · Singapore, Singapore
    • NYK Bulkship (Atlantic) Subsidiary · Antwerpen, Belgium
    • NYK GROUP SOUTH ASIA PTE. LTD. Subsidiary · 東京, Japan
    • NYK LNG SHIPPING NO.1 LIMITED Subsidiary · Nicosia, Cyprus
    • NYK LNG SHIPPING NO.2 LIMITED Subsidiary · Nicosia, Cyprus
    • NYK Maritime Museum Subsidiary · Kaigandōri, Japan
    • NYKバルク・プロジェクト株式会社 Subsidiary · 東京都 千代田区, Japan
    • YUSEN LOGISTICS (UK) LIMITED Subsidiary · Northampton, United Kingdom
    • 郵船ロジスティクスグローバルマネジメント株式会社 Subsidiary · 東京都 品川区, Japan
    • 郵船ロジスティクス株式会社 Subsidiary · 東京都 港区, Japan
      • Yusen Logistics (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Subsidiary · Singapore, Singapore
    • 郵船商事株式会社 Subsidiary · 東京都 品川区, Japan

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Nippon Cargo Airlines was established on September 27, 1978 (its head office was initially a single room inside All Nippon Airways' space at the Kasumigaseki Building) and started operations on May 8, 1985. It was Japan's first all-cargo airline. Over time, their network has grown to include many cities on three continents. Initially, NCA was a joint venture of shipping companies headed by Nippon Yusen and All Nippon Airways (ANA). In August 2005, ANA sold its stake to Nippon Yusen.

The airline is owned by Nippon Yusen (100%). In March 2023, ANA announced plans to acquire NCA from Nippon Yusen to enhance ANA's freight operations. The deal was delayed due to international regulatory concerns.

In December 2010, NCA was selected to provide ground support services for the Japanese Air Force One aircraft, replacing Japan Airlines which was then in the process of retiring its 747 fleet.

On August 1, 2025, ANA Holdings Inc. finalized the acquisition of all shares of Nippon Cargo Airlines from Nippon Yusen through a simplified share exchange.

From Wikipedia’s article on Nippon Cargo Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Destinations

Nippon Cargo Airlines serves the following destinations (as of June 2024):

Codeshare agreements

Nippon Cargo Airlines codeshares with the following airlines:

All Nippon Airways

Cargolux

Read the full text

Mas Air

Singapore Airlines Cargo

Fleet

Current fleet

As of July 2026, Nippon Cargo Airlines operates the following aircraft:

Fleet development

On 9 June 2005 Nippon Cargo Airline's first Boeing 747-400F was delivered in Everett, Washington, the first of four ordered by the airline.

In June 2006, NCA ordered two additional Boeing 747-400F to eight that had already been ordered. These aircraft were delivered beginning in 2008 and replaced the Boeing 747-200F. By May 2009, the ten 747-400 had been delivered, but the last two were placed with Cargo B Airlines, a Belgian operator which NCA owned shares of. Cargo B filed for bankruptcy in May 2009, and the two aircraft were placed into storage. Subsequently, both were leased (or possibly sold) to AirBridgeCargo Airlines.

In 2007 the airline had ordered 14 Boeing 747-8 freighter aircraft and has taken delivery of eight examples. In 2015 it cancelled outstanding orders for four of the aircraft, but still retains options on two more. It is thought to be due to the downturn of cargo volumes in the Asia Pacific region. In 2017, it cancelled the remaining two options of the aircraft, leaving the airline with no further unfulfilled aircraft orders.

Former fleet

As of August 2025, Nippon Cargo Airlines operated 8 Boeing 747-8F.

Nippon Cargo Airlines previously operated the following aircraft:

From Wikipedia’s article on Nippon Cargo Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. Sep 21, 1978Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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