Alibaba acquires 14% stake in STO Express

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group will take a 14% stake in Chinese STO Express through a US$693 million deal. The move strengthens Alibaba’s access to STO’s network, while the new surge of investment will likely help the express carrier in its aims to grow its aircraft fleet.   STO Express announced that its controlling shareholder plans to set up a new […]

• Chelsea Toczauer
• March 11, 2019

Sichuan Airlines prepares for launch with A330-200Fs

Chengdu-based Sichuan Airlines has selected Brussels as the first international destination to be served by the carrier’s incoming A330-200Fs. Thrice-weekly flights are expected to launch before the end of April, according to Brussels Airport. Cargo Facts reported in May that three BOC Aviation owned A330-200Fs coming off lease with Qatar Airways would likely end up […]

• Charles Kauffman
• March 8, 2019

UK and EU agree to protect flights in case of ‘no deal’ Brexit

Yesterday, the UK Department for Transport confirmed that flights to and from the European Union will continue unimpeded in the case of a “no deal” Brexit, agreeing to match a proposal from the EU to minimize flight disruptions. In a statement, the agency said that the planned policy follows UK technical notices from October 2018, […]

• Caryn Livingston
• March 8, 2019

Horst joins Cargo Facts Consulting as managing director

Frederic Horst, a long-time airfreight analyst, consultant, and strategist, has joined Cargo Facts Consulting as managing director. Horst’s appointment is effective immediately. Cargo Facts Consulting, the sister consultancy of this news resource, was founded in 1978 as Air Cargo Management Group. Cargo Facts Consulting has a long history of providing exceptional advisory and research to […]

• JJ Hornblass
• March 7, 2019

DP-DHL’s 4Q Express, GF growth outweighed by PeP weakness

Despite revenue growth across all segments during the fourth quarter, and operating profit (EBIT) growth in the Express and Global Forwarding segments, Deutsche Post-DHL Group (DP-DHL) reported Group EBIT declines of 4.0% year-over-year to €1.13 billion, and 15.5% to €3.16 billion for the 4Q and FY2018 respectively, due to sharp declines in the Post-eCommerce-Parcel (PeP) segment. PeP EBIT fell 28.4% and […]

• Caryn Livingston
• March 7, 2019

Freighter distribution within the widebody fleet: Part II

Yesterday, we began a two-part look at the way the 1,109 widebody freighters currently in operation are distributed within the fleet by type (see part I). Today, we continue the analysis by turning the focus to distribution by manufacturer, operator type, and by geographical region. The table at right shows the distribution of widebody freighters […]

• Charles Kauffman
• March 6, 2019

Freighter distribution within the widebody fleet: Part I

Last month, Cargo Facts presented a detailed analysis of the widebody freighter fleets of airlines worldwide. The analysis showed that between 2018 and 2019, the widebody freighter fleet expanded by 7.1% as carriers adjusted capacity to meet growing demand for air cargo. As of mid-January 2019, seventy-six airlines operated 1,109 widebody jet freighters in commercial service […]

• Charles Kauffman
• March 5, 2019

Ethiopian Airlines takes redelivery of first 737-800SF

Ethiopian Airlines has at last taken redelivery of the first-ever 737-800SF (29121) following its conversion to freighter configuration by Aeronautical Engineers, Inc., at the Commercial Jet Facility in Miami. The aircraft is on lease from GECAS, which has at least nineteen orders and options for additional 737-800 conversions with AEI, while Ethiopian has also agreed […]

• Caryn Livingston
• March 4, 2019