ANA : Wingtra Sign Agreement to Explore Drone-Based Surveying and Inspection Services

ANA HOLDINGS NEWS

• ANA HOLDINGS and Wingtra have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to evaluate wide-area drone surveying and inspection services in Japan.

• Wingtra's long-range vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fixed-wing WingtraRAY drone enables large-scale infrastructure inspections and rapid disaster damage assessment.

• Demonstration results at Mount Unzen-Fugen confirmed the aircraft's ability to conduct high-precision wide-area surveys, supporting development of an integrated drone service model.

  
  
  

  From lett: Karsten Robbins, VP Sales of Wingtra AG and Yoshiaki Tsuda, Executive Vice President of ANA HD

  Field Test at Mt. Unzen-Fugen

  TOKYO, March 16, 2026 - ANA HOLDINGS INC. (hereinafter "ANA HD") has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Wingtra AG (hereinafter "Wingtra"), a Swiss industrial drone manufacturer, to explore the deployment of wide-area surveying and inspection services across Japan, utilizing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fixed-wing aircraft.

  The initiative supports ANA HOLDINGS Medium-term Corporate Strategy for FY2026-2028, which targets the launch of commercial drone services by 2027. Through this collaboration, ANA HD aims to establish an advanced data observation service that combines its extensive aviation safety expertise with Wingtra's VTOL fixed-wing drone technology. The partnership will enable efficient wide-area infrastructure inspections and rapid disaster assessments-tasks conventionally challenging for traditional drones.

  The feasibility of the technology was demonstrated during a project at Mount Unzen-Fugen (Mizunashi River) in Nagasaki Prefecture. The project surveyed and inspected erosion control facilities as part of a Nagasaki Prefecture subsidy project. Key collaborators in this initiative included Shimabara City, Y.N. Consult Co., Ltd., WorldLink & Company Co., Ltd., the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) and Wingtra.

  The verification process confirmed several key capabilities:

• In a flight of approximately 30 minutes, the aircraft surveyed about 150 hectares (1.5 km2) demonstrating performance exceeding that of conventional rotary-wing drones.

• High-precision survey data enabled the detection of minute cracks and structural deformations in the facilities.

• The project validated a "phase-free model," where routine monitoring operations can also support disaster preparedness.

Following the successful demonstration, ANA HD is discussing a domestic sales agency agreement for Wingtra's latest drone, the WingtraRAY, while also evaluating the provision of drone flight operations services. Beyond aircraft distribution, the company aims to develop a comprehensive support system covering aircraft deployment and operations, pilot training and aircraft maintenance.

By leveraging its advanced aviation safety expertise, ANA HD is considering supporting the acquisition of "Class 1 Type Certification"-Japan's highest national safety standard for unmanned aircraft operations. Through these efforts, ANA HD will accelerate the introduction of more advanced and extensive services, including future

"Level 4" operations, enabling beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights over populated areas without visual observers.

"We are thrilled to team up with Wingtra to scale our drone solutions across the surveying and inspection landscape," said Yoshiaki Tsuda, executive vice president of ANA HD. "Combining Wingtra's innovation with our airline expertise allows us to provide robust solutions for Japan's infrastructure monitoring and disaster response."

"Japan represents a robust market with significant potential for industrial drone adoption, and we are eager to partner with ANA HD to accelerate this growth," said Karsten Robbins, vice president of sales at Wingtra. "ANA's expertise in safety and operational excellence makes it the ideal partner to expand the use of our high-precision VTOL fixed-wing solutions across multiple industries."

Point cloud data generated during the proof-of-concept at Mt. Unzen-Fugen

ANA HD was established in 2013 as the largest airline group holding company in Japan, comprising 73 companies. It offers three distinct airline brands: ANA, Peach, the leading LCC in Japan, and AirJapan, launched in 2024 for international routes covering Asia.

ANA's legacy of superior service has earned SKYTRAX's 5-Star rating every year since 2013, making it the only Japanese airline to win this prestigious designation for 13 consecutive years.

In 2025, ANA was honored with FlightGlobal's Executive Leadership: Asia-Pacific Award for its visionary leadership and strategic growth.

ANA is also a four-time recipient of the ATW Airline of the Year award, recognized for excellence in aviation.

ANA HD has been selected as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index list for eight consecutive years and the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index list for nine consecutive years.

For more information about ANA and ANA HD, please visit: https://www.ana.co.jp/group/en/