ACG 747-400Fs remain in limbo

[caption id="attachment_413479" align="alignright" width="460"] ACG previously operated three 747-400BDSFs. Unit 24311 is currently still grounded in Kazakhstan. (Photo/Air Cargo Global)[/caption] The airfreight market continues to suffer from a shortage of capacity as passenger flight cancellations are extended and aircraft parked due to the COVID-19 crisis, with stored freighters being brought back online . But the fate of three 747-400BDSFs previously operated by Slovakia-based Air Cargo Global (ACG) appears far from certain. Two of those, units 24998 and 25075, have been grounded in Liege (LGG) since October and December, respectively, while the third (24311, ex-China Airlines) has been in Karaganda, Kazakhstan (KGF) since mid-December. Unit 24311 is owned by U.A.E.-based Aquiline International , which told Cargo Facts that the aircraft remains grounded at KGF because of bureaucracy at the Slovak Transport Authority. “My biggest frustration is not with ACG, but with the Slovak authority,” said Roman Trandafilov, CEO of Aquiline. “At a time when airlift capacity is badly needed, they have refused to cooperate so we cannot use the aircraft and have had to reject so many charter requests.” Aquiline acquired unit 24311 from its previous lessor in December 2017. In January 2018, the aircraft was ferried to the U.S. for a D-check at the FMS facility in Kansas City (MCI). In May 2018, a new dry lease contract was signed between Aquiline and ACG. Toward the end of 2019, ACG started delaying its lease payments, and on a flight from LGG to Nanchang (KHN) on Dec. 15, the aircraft was grounded in KGF on a tech stop because of overdue minor maintenance work, according to Aquiline. Aquiline told Cargo Facts that communication with ACG management has been difficult while the company undergoes a restructure, but its new investors have said outstanding payments would be settled and the aircraft would be brought to Sharjah (SHJ) for the maintenance. ACG has not responded to a request for comment on the aircraft in question. “After three months of such promises, we realized the aircraft would not be returned from lease and no more payments would be made,” said Trandafilov. “We asked the Civil Aviation Division of the Slovak authority to explain what was going on with ACG, and to confirm the status of the air operator's certificate (AOC), but the answers were quite contradictory and we never got a clear answer as to whether it is suspended, revoked, or still active.” According to ch-aviation, the Slovak Transport Authority has suspended ACG’s AOC while it carries out an investigation into the carrier. Aquiline asked the Slovak authority to remove the aircraft from ACG’s AOC and operations specifications, and was instead reportedly offered the cancellation of the 747’s Slovak registration. Aquiline said it was reluctant to do this, saying that deregistration without an export certificate of airworthiness would make it difficult to reregister the aircraft elsewhere. “We requested authorization for a one-off, non-revenue flight to our maintenance base, to close all open action items and then have the registration cancelled with an export certificate of airworthiness,” Trandafilov said. “This was also rejected by the authority. Then we provided a statement of no technical objection from Boeing, but again it was rejected.” Aquiline claims the Slovak Transport Authority is in violation of the European Union’s Regulation No. 1008/2008, which requires member states’ licensing authorities to monitor the financial health of the air carriers to which an operating license has been granted. The Slovak Transport Authority’s Civil Aviation Division couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the matter. Without unit 24311, Aquiline currently only has one 747 operational, a 747-400BCF (24975, ex-Air Cargo Germany) on lease to Belarus-based Rubystar Airways. This aircraft has been busy lately transporting personal protective equipment and other supplies on a variety of routes between China and European countries, including France, Germany and Spain. Aquiline told Cargo Facts it purchased an additional 747-400 freighter at the end of January and expects the aircraft to emerge from maintenance in May. ACG, for its part, confirmed in early March it had closed its German branch and was undergoing a restructure it expected to be complete by April, after reports surfaced in late February that the company had laid off its Frankfurt employees. The carrier has not responded to a request for comment on when the restructure will be complete.

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