Blue Skies, nothing but blue skies…
Blue Sky Aviation Services, a startup all-cargo carrier based in Dubai, acquired an A300-600 Freighter (788, ex-Maximus Air) and says it will soon launch operations from Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC).
This is hardly the first small all-cargo carrier to operate in the Gulf Region, and the acquisition of a 16-year-old A300 freighter is not earth-shaking news either, but in an open letter on the company’s website, Blue Sky Vice President Javed Ahmed said the carrier would add two A330-200Fs to its fleet.
He did not say when the new freighters would enter service, but A330-200Fs are neither plentiful nor cheap, so the question of where Blue Sky will find two of the type is interesting.
Airbus has informed Cargo Facts that it has no order or commitment from the carrier, so the potential sources are limited.
- BOC Aviation has three A330-200Fs on lease to Qatar Airways. Terms of the lease agreement have not been released, but Cargo Facts believes it is a relatively short-term deal, so it is possible Blue Sky could be a new home for two of these freighters when they come off lease at Qatar.
- An existing A330-200F operator could lease or sell two freighters to Blue Sky. The obvious candidate here is MASkargo, the cargo arm of Malaysia Airlines. MASkargo already ACMI-leases one of its four A330-200Fs to Turkish Airlines, and may well be interested in similar deals with other carriers.
And, of course, there is a third possibility: That Blue Sky has not yet made a formal arrangement to acquire the aircraft, but rather is planning to do so at some point in the future.
