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 […]

Lufthansa Technik nabs customer for A380 freighter-lite

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• May 5, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Editorial, Equipment, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Lufthansa Technik has secured a contract to reconfigure an A380 as an “auxiliary freighter” capable of transporting cargo on its passenger decks. The experiment, prompted by the ongoing capacity crunch induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, will yield an aircraft that is the closest to an A380F the world has ever seen.  While Lufthansa Technik has […]

130+ passenger aircraft added to ‘COVID-19 freighter fleet’

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• March 31, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Equipment, Exclusive, Freighter Fleet Analysis, Logistics, News, Strategy

As borders are severely restricted and passenger flights are cancelled around the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least forty airlines have operated some 135 empty passenger aircraft for the sole purpose of carrying cargo, analysis by Cargo Facts has found. With bellyholds traditionally moving 40%-80% of the cargo on a given lane, the […]

Qantas, KLM fly passenger aircraft as freighters, Lufthansa and IAG may follow

• Jeff Lee
• March 18, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Equipment, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

[Note: Qantas has now decided to suspend all international passenger flying from the end of March until at least May 31, 2020.] As borders are severely restricted and passenger flights are cancelled around the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, more airlines are beginning to operate empty passenger aircraft for the sole purpose of carrying […]

Delta to operate passenger planes as freighters for charters

• Jeff Lee
• March 16, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, News, Strategy

Delta Air Lines will join the list of airlines operating passenger aircraft as freighters. The carrier’s entire trans-Atlantic belly network has been nearly eliminated as a result of the U.S. travel ban on foreign nationals from the Schengen Area, the U.K. and Ireland. Delta Cargo has begun offering charter flights in response to customer demand, […]

EFW begins converting young A330 for DHL

• Jeff Lee
• March 12, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Equipment, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

The youngest A330 to be sent for conversion arrived at the Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) facility in Dresden (DRS) on March 10. The A330-300 (1124) previously in service with Hong Kong Airlines, is just under ten years old. EFW confirmed to Cargo Facts the aircraft has been inducted for conversion into freighter configuration [FAT 005354], and […]

Cargo Facts Asia conference moves to Singapore in wake of coronavirus

• JJ Hornblass
• February 10, 2020
• Aircraft, Business, Capacity & Demand, Cargo Facts Asia, Carriers, Conversions, E-Commerce, Engines, Equipment, Events, Express, Express Fleet Analysis, Finance, Freighter Aircraft Transactions, Freighter Fleet Analysis, Logistics, Narrowbody Conversions, Narrowbody Fleet Analysis, Production Freighters, Regional Fleet Analysis, Strategy, Widebody Conversions, Widebody Fleet Analysis

Cargo Facts Asia 2020 has moved to Singapore in response to the novel coronavirus that began in China in December. Royal Media Group, Cargo Facts Asia’s producer, announced today that the ninth annual conference will take place at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore on April 20-22, 2020, rather than in Shanghai. Cargo Facts Asia is a […]

No sign of December traffic rebound for combination carriers

• Charles Kauffman
• January 22, 2020
• Capacity & Demand, Carriers

After a month-to-month uptick in air cargo demand between October and November 2019, there was hope that peak season demand would push annual comparisons into positive territory in December 2019. While anecdotal reports suggest some regions and commodity segments saw an increase in December cargo traffic year over year, combination carriers showed little sign of improvement […]