Atlas and DHL end Polar JV

Atlas Air and DHL will dissolve their joint venture in Polar Air Cargo in 2025, with Atlas set to continue operating the four 747-8Fs and two 777Fs in Polar’s fleet. Atlas and DHL mutually decided that the joint venture no longer aligns with the strategic direction of either company, Atlas told Cargo Facts . [caption id="attachment_57148936" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Polar operates four 747-8Fs and two 777Fs for DHL.(Courtesy/Auckland Airport)[/caption] Some operations and positions will shift to Atlas and others to DHL, Atlas said. Polar Air Cargo was established as a joint venture between Atlas and DHL Network Operations (USA), Inc., a subsidiary of DHL, in 2007, with Atlas holding a 51% equity stake and DHL 49%. Atlas holds a 75% voting interest and DHL 25%. Polar provides freighter capacity to DHL under a twenty-year blocked space agreement that expires in 2028. Under a flight services agreement, Polar pays Atlas per block hour at a predetermined rate, according to Atlas’ most recent annual report for 2022 before it went private in 2023. Atlas received $296 million in revenue from Polar in 2022, compared with $321 million in 2021 and $324 million in 2020, according to the report. It also recognized revenue of $106 million from flying on behalf of Polar in 2022, compared with $195 million in 2021 and $227 million in 2020. One Atlas Atlas will continue to hold the Polar AOC, the company told Cargo Facts . Polar operates four 2011- to 2013-vintage 747-8Fs (37568, 37569, 35572 and 37567) and two 2012-vintage 777Fs (37988 and 37989) for DHL. Atlas owns the 747s and intends to redeploy them to serve other customers under long-term agreements, while the 777Fs belong to DHL but will continue in CMI service with Atlas, the carrier said. The decision to end the Polar joint venture is part of Atlas’ continued transformation and in “full alignment” with the company’s One Atlas strategy , the company told Cargo Facts . That strategy calls for an increased focus on more lucrative and high-utilization operations using Atlas’ own large-widebody freighters. As part of that strategy, Atlas is moving away from CMI flying for Amazon. The carrier will soon remove the last of seventeen 767-300BCFs and -300BDSFs it flew on behalf of the e-tailer, and in January removed the first of eight 737-800BCFs . Atlas is diverting at least some of its resources to operating large-widebody additions to its fleet. After completing its $5.2 billion sale to a consortium led by private equity firm Apollo Global Management in 2023, Atlas acquired three 747-8Fs and four production 747-400Fs in 2024, along with a 777F it flies on a CMI basis for CMA CGM. It also expects to take delivery of two new 777Fs and another CMA CGM 777F in 2025. Polar’s shrinking fleet The Polar fleet has downsized over the past two to three years. In 2024, one 2012-vintage 747-8F (37565) and two 2012-vintage 777Fs (38091 and 41518) were transferred to Atlas, while DHL reassigned two 2010-vintage 777Fs (37986 and 37987) to DHL Air UK . Polar previously also operated two production 767-300Fs (37809 and 37810) and two 767-300BDSFs (26207 and 27611). All four left the fleet in 2023 and 2024. DHL told Cargo Facts in December 2023 that it would use Japan Airlines’ three freshly converted 767-300BCFs as an alternative to Polar in the intra-Asia market. Polar became embroiled in a high-profile scandal in 2023 when ten former senior executives and vendors were charged with defrauding the airline of about $32 million in “a complex set of schemes” for more than a decade, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The executives ensured that the vendors received favorable deals with Polar in exchange for kickbacks and other financial benefits because of their secret ownership interests in those vendors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The fraud “led to pervasive corruption of Polar’s business” and touched “nearly every aspect of the company’s operations,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. All ten defendants pleaded guilty and at least five have been sentenced to prison. Register now for Cargo Facts' essential regional events for industry stakeholders: Cargo Facts Asia 2025 on March 24-26 at the W Shanghai in China; and Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 on May 6-8 at the Shangri-La Bosphorus in Turkey.

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