Western Global Airlines added to its fleet a third 747-400F and started the process of reactivating one of several stored MD-11Fs.
Amid the global airfreight capacity crunch, the carrier confirmed to Cargo Facts that it took ownership of unit 29258 (ex-Atlas Air) on April 22 and will soon place it into service [FAT 005395]. The carrier told Cargo Facts it is exploring options for adding capacity through reactivations or acquisitions, but did not comment on specifics.
The 747-400F was ferried from Marana (MZJ), where it had been parked since late January, to Shreveport (SHV), where Western Global has its own MRO facility. Western Global said unit 29258 will be put into service upon completion of its conformity inspection. This is the company’s first production 747-400F and it joins the carrier’s two -400BCFs (26344 and 26356, ex-Atlas Air).
On May 3, the carrier also started the process of reactivating an MD-11F (48435, ex-World Airways), which had been stored at Mohave (MHV) since December. Like the 747-400F, the MD-11F has now found its way to SHV.
The carrier has thirteen other MD-11Fs. Four are currently inactive: unit 48411 (ex-World Airways), which arrived at SHV in April; unit 48581 (ex-Lufthansa Cargo), which has been at SHV since December; unit 48630 (ex-Lufthansa Cargo), which was parked in Oscoda (OSC) in 2016; and unit 48804 (ex-Lufthansa Cargo), which has been at SHV since June 2018. Western Global didn’t comment as to whether it would be bringing these back into service.
In April, five 747-400Fs were brought back into service: three Atlas Air units (24833, 26557, and 27174) and two CargoLogicAir aircraft (32870 and 33749). Cargo Facts expects to see an Aerotranscargo 747-400BCF (24459, ex-Thai Cargo), a Cargolux 747-400F (35170, ex-CargoLogicAir) and an Aquiline International 747-400F (27503, ex-Cargolux) begin flying in May.
This story was updated on May 4 to reflect the new developments with Western Global’s MD-11F fleet.
