National Airlines awakens 747F from seven-year slumber

• Jeff Lee
• July 28, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Editorial, Equipment, Logistics, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Florida-headquartered National Airlines has brought a 747-400BCF (26547, ex-Cathay Pacific) out of long-term storage at Marana (MZJ) and will soon deploy it into service. The aircraft, which had been parked at MZJ since 2013, was ferried July 27 to San Antonio (SAT) where, according to National, it will undergo heavy maintenance for approximately forty-five days. […]

3 trends in July passenger-freighter operations

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• July 23, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Editorial, Equipment, News, Strategy

Some regions continue to see an expansion of cargo-only operations utilizing passenger aircraft, despite falling demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) to combat COVID-19 and the resumption of some international passenger flights. As the capacity and commodity mix evolves, here are three trends Cargo Facts has gleaned from analysis of passenger freighter flights in July: […]

A look at special-edition freighter liveries

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• July 14, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Editorial, News, Production Freighters, Strategy

Special liveries, common for passenger aircraft, are few and far between when it comes to freighters, but Cargolux has produced what could be the first retro paint scheme for a cargo aircraft. The 747-400F (35170, ex-CargoLogicAir) returned to Cargolux headquarters in Luxembourg (LUX) on July 14 after spending two weeks in Shannon (SNN), where it […]

In shuttering 747 program, Boeing shuns consortium’s proposal, Cargo Facts learns

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• July 6, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Equipment, News, Production Freighters, Widebody Conversions

Not only is Boeing abandoning the 747 platform, continuing its trend in recent years of turning away customers seeking to purchase the iconic widebody, the aerospace giant has also declined an offer to acquire the program, Cargo Facts has learned. Efforts to save the 747-8 have failed, requiring the air cargo industry to face the […]

10 carriers where cargo contributes the most

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• June 17, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Editorial, Logistics, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Between 2018 and 2019, the contribution of cargo to a combination carrier’s top line decreased almost unanimously as the airfreight market entered cool-down mode after a multi-year growth streak. With the exception of Qatar Airways, all of the top-ten carriers by cargo revenue contribution saw cargo play a reduced or unchanged role in 2019. With […]

Longtail Aviation enters freighter market with 747-400F

• Jeff Lee
• June 15, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Equipment, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, News, Production Freighters, Strategy

Bermuda-based Longtail Aviation, the territory’s sole holder of an air operator’s certificate, has become the latest 747-operator with the addition of its first freighter, a -400F (27503) previously in service with Cargolux. The aircraft is being leased from U.A.E.-based Aquiline International [FAT 005463-005464]. For Longtail, which had been offering VIP charter services for around seventeen […]

Air Hong Kong expands fleet with third own-operated A330F

• Jeff Lee
• June 10, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Equipment, Express, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Air Hong Kong (AHK) will soon add to its fleet the A330-300F (777, ex-China Eastern Airlines) recently converted by Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) and redelivered to DHL Express at the end of May. Unit 777 was sent from EFW’s facility in Dresden (DRS) to Malta (MLA) on May 28 to be painted, and has now been photographed in the […]

April brings more instability to Asia-Pacific cargo traffic

• Caryn Livingston
• May 18, 2020
• Capacity & Demand

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has managed to destabilize most of the global aviation market, even as disrupted supply chains have boosted airfreight rates to unprecedented highs. While in some cases that has led to startling increases in air cargo revenue in April and during the first quarter of 2020, the massive decrease in cargo capacity […]