Air Atlanta Icelandic is expanding its freighter fleet with two production 747-400Fs. The carrier currently only has one production -400F, along with one -400BCF and five -400BDSFs.
The first of the additions is the twenty-six-year-old unit 26563, which El Al Israel Airlines withdrew from service at the end of June 2019. After just under a year of storage in Marana (MZJ), the aircraft left the desert July 10, headed for Shannon (SNN) [FAT 005500].
According to the Icelandic aircraft registry, unit 26563’s owner is Cyprus-headquartered AAL Capital Aircraft Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of AviaAM Leasing, which is a subsidiary of Avia Solutions Group. Avia Solutions Group is the parent of a number of companies, including charter broker Chapman Freeborn, Magma Aviation, and more recently, Bluebird Nordic.
It’s likely unit 26563 will end up being operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic for Magma Aviation, for which the Icelandic carrier already flies three aircraft (24801, 27066, and 27602) on an ACMI basis. Until late-May, a fourth 747 (27898) was also operated for Magma but that aircraft is now being flown for Saudia Cargo.
Air Atlanta Icelandic didn’t comment on its plans for the aircraft.
Unit 26563 was previously owned by BlackRock, which told Cargo Facts in May it had sold a 747-400F [FAT 005499].
Air Atlanta Icelandic is also set to add unit 28263 which, according to the Icelandic register, is owned by NAS Investments 8, a subsidiary of GECAS. This aircraft was previously operated by China Cargo Airlines, cargo subsidiary of the Shanghai-based China Eastern. China Cargo Airlines confirmed in its IPO prospectus earlier this year that it would not be extending the lease on 28263 after a nine-year term. That 747 remains in Xiamen (XMN), where it has been since late-May.
See also: Express appetite for 777F eclipses 747-400F fleet
Units 27898 and 27899 were both acquired from Taiwan-based EVA Air last year and now flown for Saudia. Air Atlanta Icelandic told Cargo Facts unit 27899 is undergoing a C-check in Sharjah (SHJ), where it arrived June 4.
Air Atlanta Icelandic’s two other 747s, a -400BDSF (25700) and the only -400F so far (27603), are ACMI-operated for Kenya-based Astral Aviation.
