NCA 747-400Fs to stay on Atlas Air AOC
Renewed deal extends trans-Pacific widebody capacity
Nippon Cargo Airlines will allow Atlas Air to continue operating five of its CF6-powered 747-400Fs after Nippon Cargo and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings renewed an existing agreement.
The deal extension allows Atlas to continue providing freighter services between the Asia-Pacific region and North America on behalf of NCA, enabling the carriers to meet growing demand, according to a May 22 press release.
Atlas and NCA expanded their arrangement in 2019 to increase the number of aircraft from two to five NCA-owned 747-400 production freighters.
In addition to the five 747-400Fs (34283, 36132, 36133, 36134 and 36135) with Atlas, NCA has two other 747-400Fs (36784 and 36785) on the ASL Airlines Belgium AOC.
Background
After the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau discovered inconsistencies in NCA’s maintenance records in 2018, NCA was forced to ground its whole fleet; in 2019, NCA transitioned three additional 747-400Fs to Atlas and opted to only manage the capacity of the widebody freighters.
NCA will remain a dedicated freighter operator with eight 747-8Fs under its own AOC when its acquisition by All Nippon Airways (ANA) is complete, NCA President and Chief Executive Hiroyuki Homma said at Cargo Facts Asia 2024 in April.
The acquisition of NCA by ANA is expected to close by July 1, the CEO said.
ANA, which operates two factory 777Fs, four production 767-300Fs and five 767-300BCFs, will grow its combined operational freighter fleet to nineteen aircraft, becoming one of the top scheduled combination carriers when the deal is completed.
Including the four units it recently purchased and the NCA-owned aircraft, Atlas Air’s fleet includes fifty-three 747 freighters:
- Fourteen 747-8Fs;
- Thirty-five production 747-400Fs;
- Two 747-400BCFs; and
- Two 747-400BDSFs.
Atlas this month made long-term commitments to the Boeing quad-engine freighter type after acquiring two Pratt & Whitney-powered 747-400Fs from Silk Way West Airlines and two ex-China Airlines 747-400 production freighters powered by CF6 engines.
