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 […]

THG Air — U.K.’s newest cargo airline?

• Jeff Lee
• May 8, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Editorial, Equipment, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

British online retailer The Hut Group (THG) has launched THG Air with plans to add two A330 freighters. The aircraft, to be painted in THG colors, will be based at Manchester Airport (MAN), where the group’s headquarters are located. THG told Cargo Facts the aircraft are likely to be A330-200Fs, which are in the final […]

‘COVID-19 freighter fleet’ tops 350

• Jeff Lee
• April 13, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Equipment, Freighter Fleet Analysis, Logistics, News, Strategy

The number of aircraft that carriers have operated for the sole purpose of transporting cargo during the COVID-19 crisis has more than doubled in the past two weeks to more than 350, based on analysis by Cargo Facts. See also: 130+ passenger aircraft added to ‘COVID-19 freighter fleet’ The nature of these makeshift freighter operations […]

CF EMEA: Striving for freighter-to-belly balance

• Jeff Lee
• February 17, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Cargo Facts EMEA 2020 - Video Series, Carriers, Equipment, News, Production Freighters, Strategy

FRANKFURT — Turkish Airlines, which has a freighter fleet of ten A330-200Fs and seven 777Fs, took its seventh 777F in January and has one more unit on firm order for delivery in a month or so. The carrier also has an overall fleet of around 300 aircraft, including more than 100 widebody aircraft with cargo-friendly […]

CF EMEA 2020: Carriers look to innovate

• Jeff Lee
• February 4, 2020
• Cargo Facts EMEA, Carriers, Events, News

FRANKFURT – Carriers in the EMEA region continue to invest in innovating air cargo through new technologies, as evidenced when attendees gathered this week at the Westin Grand in Frankfurt, Germany, for the second edition of the Cargo Facts EMEA event. Turhan Ozen, chief cargo officer for Turkish Airlines, said the carrier is close to trialing […]

ACT 747F suffers tail strike

• Jeff Lee
• February 3, 2020
• Aircraft, News, Production Freighters

A 747-400F operated by Turkey-based ACT Airlines suffered a tail strike on departure Feb. 1. The aircraft (26559, ex-Singapore Airlines Cargo) was being operated in ACMI service for Saudia Cargo. Unit 26559, manufactured in 2001, was en route from Dammam (DMM) to Zaragoza (ZAZ). It continued after takeoff and diverted to Jeddah (JED), where it […]

Turkish Cargo continues to grow fleet

• Charles Kauffman
• January 27, 2020
• Aircraft, Equipment, News

Turkish Cargo took delivery of a production freighter from Boeing on Jan. 23 (64240) [FAT 005297]. Since adding its first 777F in December 2017, the cargo arm of Turkish Airlines has rapidly grown its 777F fleet to seven units. Although both Qatar Airways and FedEx added more 777Fs than Turkish Cargo during the same period […]

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 […]