ZTO Express’ dedicated freighter operation remains limited post-peak

• Charles Kauffman
• January 13, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Carriers, Editorial, Equipment, Express, Narrowbody Conversions, News

It has only been two weeks since the start of 2020, but HNA Group affiliate Tianjin Air Cargo (TAC) has already expanded its freighter network with the launch of its first scheduled international route, a weekly flight between Zhengzhou (CGO) and Bangkok (BKK) on Jan. 8, and another between CGO and Dhaka (DAK) on Jan. […]

Air Atlanta Icelandic looks to 777 platform

• Jeff Lee
• January 9, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Air Atlanta Icelandic could soon be adding 777s to the list of aircraft it operates. The Iceland-based carrier has begun recruiting 777 type-rated captains and first officers through Confair, a Dutch recruitment agency for cockpit crew, flight attendants and technical maintenance personnel. According to the job description, this new batch of pilots will be based […]

Air Hong Kong transfers first A330F to own AOC

• Jeff Lee
• January 8, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Engines, Equipment, Express, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Air Hong Kong (AHK) has completed the transfer of an A330-300P2F to its own AOC. The aircraft (116, ex-Malaysia Airlines) is the first A330 freighter to be added to the wholly owned Cathay Pacific subsidiary’s AOC, and was previously operated by ASL Airlines Ireland. While AHK couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, the carrier previously […]

EGAT takes step back from conversions

• Jeff Lee
• January 7, 2020
• Aircraft, Conversions, Equipment, Exclusive, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Evergreen Aviation Technologies (EGAT) will be backing away from freighter conversions in 2020. The company confirmed to Cargo Facts that it isn’t scheduled to carry out any 767-300 passenger-to-freighter conversions at its Taipei (TPE) facility this year, as MRO capacity has been committed to maintenance and interior retrofits for its airline customers. This leaves the […]

FedEx retires last A310-300F

• Charles Kauffman
• January 6, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Express, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, Narrowbody Conversions, News, Production Freighters, Strategy

Over the weekend, FedEx completed its final revenue flight utilizing an A310-300F. After completing a routine round-trip flight between Sioux Falls (FSD) and FedEx’s Memphis (MEM) hub on the morning of Jan. 4, the express company bid farewell to the final operating A310-300F (439) in its fleet.  This was the third A310-300F FedEx has retired since Christmas. Until recently, FedEx had operated the trio of A310-300Fs in scheduled service. […]

Top narrowbody freighter developments of 2019

• Jeff Lee
• January 6, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Equipment, News, Widebody Conversions

Last Friday, we looked at significant developments concerning widebody freighters in 2019. We continue today with narrowbodies, starting with the 737. The grounding of the 737 MAX, which began in March 2019, continued through the end of the year and resulted in Boeing deciding to put production on hold as hundreds of frames sit in […]

Top widebody freighter developments of 2019

• Jeff Lee
• January 3, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Equipment, Production Freighters, Widebody Conversions

As the first week of 2020 draws to a close, we look back and reflect on some of the most important and newsworthy developments affecting freighter aircraft types in 2019, starting with widebodies. To begin with, we note that while stories involving the 747 are consistently among our most popular, in 2019 this seemed to […]

China Postal receives seventh 757-200PCF

• Jeff Lee
• January 2, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Express, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, Narrowbody Conversions, News

China Postal Airlines has taken redelivery of its seventh 757-200PCF (32342, ex-China Southern Airlines) [FAT 005277] following conversion to freighter configuration by Precision Aircraft Solutions. The aircraft is the final conversion of a batch of seven ex-China Southern 757-200s acquired from Boeing in December 2015. Precision Aircraft Solutions confirmed to Cargo Facts that it had […]