Air Canada Cargo 2021 revenues reach all-time high

The COVID-19 pandemic has had bolstering effects on air cargo around the world. In this week's Insight, we will focus specifically on Air Canada. Air Canada shattered company records in 2021 and made significant investments that the company hopes will allow it to remain an industry leader in post-pandemic operations. Air Canada started the year with a focus on passenger freighter flights. As we have reported previously, Air Canada never strayed far from the top three passenger freighter operators by movements for most of the year. In December 2021, Air Canada took a major step when it introduced its first dedicated 767 freighter into service. The airline's newest foray into dedicated freighters comes just over four years after it prematurely suspended a year-and-a-half-long partnership in which Cargojet operated flights to the U.S., Mexico, Europe and South America on behalf of Air Canada Cargo. As a result of the pandemic-driven increase in demand, Air Canada Cargo saw all-time high cargo revenues of $1.4 billion Cdn in 2021, a 63% increase from $920 million Cdn in 2020. The numbers get even more impressive if you consider that Air Canada's cargo revenues are up 195% since 2015. Air Canada's 2021 financial statements break these revenues down into five key regions: Canada: $124 million (8% of cargo revenues); U.S. transborder: $62 million (4% of cargo revenues); Atlantic: $538 million (36% of cargo revenues); Pacific: $667 million (45% of cargo revenues); and other: $104 million (7% of cargo revenues). The definitions of those regions are Atlantic: flights that cross the Atlantic Ocean, principally Europe, India, the Middle East and North Africa; Pacific: flights that cross the Pacific Ocean, essentially Asia and Australia; other: Central and South America, Caribbean and Mexico. The Pacific was Air Canada Cargo's region with the greatest growth in 2021 at 88%. Air Canada has not slowed down in Q1 2022. In late January, Air Canada Cargo announced plans to further increase handling capacity at its 5,000-square-foot Frankfurt hub by an additional 35% prior to the launch of operations later in 2022. In late March, Air Canada opened the first phase of its new $16 million environmentally friendly facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) . The facility will feature 30,000 square feet of temperature-controlled storage at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). This facility is the only of its kind in Canada and will help to strengthen Air Canada's cool chain capabilities. Air Canada Cargo is also investing in its digital offerings and released capacity to freight forwarders via an eBooking platform, WebCargo , which allows real-time pricing and booking for customers. Air Canada has also selected CargoAi’s eBooking & eQuote platform for freight forwarders. In 2021, Air Canada operated a total of 10,217 cargo-only flights, compared with 4,235 cargo-only flights in 2020. This dedicated freighter network will continue to grow in April and May with the addition of the following routes: Toronto (YYZ) - Halifax (YHZ): five flights per week starting April 19 Toronto (YYZ) - St. John’s (YYT): six flights per week starting May 1 Toronto (YYZ) - Frankfurt (FRA): five flights per week starting in May Toronto (YYZ) - Cologne (CGN): one flight per week starting in May Toronto (YYZ) - Istanbul (IST): one flight per week starting in May Toronto (YYZ) - Madrid (MAD): one flight per week starting in May Air Canada's second 767-300BDSF (MSN 24307) touched down at YYZ on March 14 after ferrying from Tel Aviv (TLV) via Frankfurt (FRA). It appears that this aircraft will jump right into revenue service traveling to Quito (UIO) and onto Lima (LIM) the following day. Air Canada also expects C-GHLV (MSN 30852) in the coming months after it arrived at TLV on March 7 for conversion. 2022 has started the way that 2021 finished for Air Canada Cargo with growth and new milestones. We are awaiting Air Canada's Q1 earnings release on April 26.

Air Canada Cargo 2021 revenues reach all-time high

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