ANA builds cloud hub with Equinix, cuts setup time

All Nippon Airways has built a centralised cloud network hub with Equinix, reducing network provisioning time by about 80%.

The project is designed to support passenger services including reservations, boarding, customer communications and operational systems as the Japanese carrier prepares for a sharp rise in data volumes across its global operations.

As ANA expanded and adopted hybrid and multicloud systems, its existing network model became harder and more expensive to scale. Dedicated circuits for individual systems added complexity as connectivity needs shifted across domestic and international operations.

In response, the airline redesigned its network architecture around a central hub using Equinix Fabric, a software-defined interconnection service. The system provides private, on-demand links to cloud providers including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud without requiring additional physical circuits for each connection.

The change has cut the time needed to provision network resources from months to weeks, according to the companies. ANA said the shorter lead time frees infrastructure resources for application development and testing and supports its target of reducing five-year total cost of ownership by 30%.

ANA operates about 280 aircraft across more than 200 domestic and international routes. Its digital systems support a wide range of functions, from booking and boarding to customer messaging and operational coordination.

The airline expects global data volumes to rise tenfold, increasing pressure on its infrastructure. The new setup is intended to give technology teams a single point from which to manage connectivity across multiple cloud environments while keeping policies consistent.

Private connectivity and centralised policy enforcement also formed part of the security and compliance rationale for the redesign. ANA said the architecture aligns with more modern security frameworks as it updates systems that support mission-critical workloads.

Across corporate technology, businesses are moving away from fixed network designs tied to individual applications and sites. More organisations are instead using software-based interconnection to link cloud services and internal systems with less reliance on bespoke physical links.

For airlines, that shift has practical implications because customer-facing services and operational platforms increasingly depend on data moving between different systems in real time. Faster network changes can influence how quickly carriers test applications, introduce digital services and respond to changes in demand.

ANA said the new architecture would support broader passenger service modernisation, as well as analytics, automation and artificial intelligence workloads. It described the hub as a base for integrating systems across cloud environments rather than maintaining separate connections for each service.

Jun Nakazato outlined ANA's reasoning for the overhaul.

"Our rapid business expansion demanded a network with unprecedented flexibility. Rather than continuing to expand our existing network environment, we recognised that implementing network-as-a-service was the most effective path forward. Equinix Fabric delivers the dynamic foundation we need to scale seamlessly. Equinix serves not merely as a vendor, but as a critical strategic partner in modernising our global systems and enabling our future growth," said Jun Nakazato, Manager, IT Infrastructure Team, Digital Governance Department, Digital Transformation Division, All Nippon Airways.

Equinix presented the deployment as an example of how large enterprises are updating network design without fully replacing underlying infrastructure. It said the approach allows customers to add more flexible software control on top of existing physical foundations.

Kuniko Ogawa, Managing Director, Japan, Equinix, said the ANA project shows how companies are changing the way they consume infrastructure as data demands rise.

"ANA's deployment of Equinix Fabric demonstrates what's possible when enterprises evolve how they consume infrastructure, not by ripping and replacing, but by adding intelligence and flexibility on top of a resilient physical infrastructure. We're proud to support ANA as it builds a digital foundation capable of handling tomorrow's data demands while delivering better experiences for passengers today," said Kuniko Ogawa, Managing Director, Japan, Equinix.