Aerotranscargo offers 747-400 pax freighter, could add more -400Fs

• Jeff Lee
• June 4, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

All-747F operator Aerotranscargo is looking to grow its fleet further while others downsize, and has added to its portfolio a passenger 747-400 (28959) temporarily reconfigured for cargo, with potentially two more production freighters to come. Unit 28959 was previously operated for Saudi Arabia-based flynas by Moldova-based Terra Avia, flying Hajj services between Indonesia and Saudi […]

COVID-19 sinks US air trade in April

• Frederic Horst
• June 4, 2020
• All Posts, Cargo Facts Consulting, Strategy

April air trade data for the United States revealed a massive COVID-19 impact. Overall import tonnage declined by 15% year-over-year in April while export tonnage declined 24% YoY. The overall commodity mix moving by air looks very different from historical patterns.

Amazon to boost 767-300F fleet leased from ATSG

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• June 3, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Carriers, Conversions, Equipment, Widebody Conversions

Amazon will lease twelve additional freighter-converted 767-300Fs from ATSG’s leasing affiliate, Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM), the e-tailer announced today. The 767 will remain as the backbone of the Amazon Air fleet as CAM is set to grow the number of 767Fs CAM leases to Amazon to forty-two units by the end of next year. By […]

Court denies Volga-Dnepr motion for restraining order against Boeing

• Jeff Lee
• June 3, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Equipment, News, Production Freighters

Russia-based Volga-Dnepr Group’s application for a temporary restraining order to stop Boeing from selling one 747-8F (63784) and three 777Fs has been denied by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. The case concerns a December 2018 contract between Volga-Dnepr and Boeing for five 747-8Fs and another December 2018 contract for […]

Letter from the Cargo Facts Chairman

• JJ Hornblass
• June 3, 2020
• Cargo Facts Symposium

Dear Community Member, Since its launch in 1995, the Cargo Facts Symposium has singularly brought together the disparate members of the global airfreight and freighter aircraft community, not just to engage in business discussions but because Cargo Facts attendees are a family. Some come back year after year, as much to check in on friends as to pursue business […]

IAI redelivers two 767-300BDSFs to CAM

• Jeff Lee
• June 2, 2020
• Carriers, Editorial, Equipment, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has redelivered two freshly converted 767-300BDSFs to Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM), the leasing arm of ATSG, after another 767-300 (29429, ex-American), arrived May 28 at IAI’s facility in Tel Aviv (TLV) to undergo conversion into freighter configuration [FATs 005443-005446]. The first of the two freighters (29229, ex-LATAM), which arrived at TLV in August […]

Absent the bellyhold, freighter fleet can’t handle cargo demand

• Charles Kauffman
• June 2, 2020
• All Posts, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Editorial, News

The International Air Transport Association released its airfreight market analysis for April 2020, showing a 27.7% year-over-year drop in worldwide cargo traffic, measured in cargo tonne kilometers (CTKs), the steepest decline ever to be recorded by IATA. Traffic was lower not only as a result of weakening underlying demand from industrial sectors, but in response […]

Volga-Dnepr and Boeing in legal spat over order backlog

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• June 1, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Business, Carriers, Equipment, Freighter Fleet Analysis, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Fleet Analysis

Volga-Dnepr Group, through its U.K. affiliate, is motioning for a temporary restraining order against Boeing in an attempt to reclaim delivery rights to a 747-8F and three 777Fs Boeing began remarketing earlier this year, after the group signaled earlier this year that it was no longer in a position to take delivery of the aircraft. […]