Cargo Facts Connect

TAAG Angola Airlines is keen to capitalize on the potential of the African market to grow its cargo business, having brought on an industry veteran and introduced its first 737NG freighter into operation less than a year ago.

TAAG took delivery of a 2003-vintage 737-800BCF (33552, ex-Ryanair) on lease from BBAM in September 2023, but had not yet put it into service when the carrier appointed David Ambridge as director of cargo and mail that November. Ambridge helped put the freighter to work soon after that and it now flies at least four times a week.

“That doesn’t sound a lot, but there are some obstacles that we’re overcoming,” Ambridge says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

“We’ve actually created what I like to call a niche market now for this aeroplane, and that’s really where I see TAAG Cargo,” he says. “I see us being a niche carrier. We’re not Ethiopian; we don’t want to be, and we never will be.”

Ethiopian Airlines is the largest freighter operator in Africa with ten 777Fs, three 767-300BDSFs and four 737-800Fs.

While TAAG hopes to expand its own freighter fleet, it will also need to overcome hurdles, many of which relate to regulatory issues, Ambridge says.

“That’s a really big obstacle that we need to start sitting down with customs and understanding why they do it and where they feel the threats are and then seeing if they’re open to accept information electronically rather than via paper,” he says.

“Then we can give them advance manifests and an advance notice, and they can do maybe a little bit more of their risk assessment before the flight so that we can try and get stuff moved around Africa quicker.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on TAAG as Ambridge speaks to Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

Canadian regional carrier Pascan Aviation will soon become the first Saab 340B freighter operator in the country after recently entering the dedicated cargo segment.

Pascan began a fleet changeover to passenger Saab 340Bs during the pandemic and has carried cargo on its passenger flights since operations began in 1999. Only recently did it give serious consideration to the freighter market and ended up with a deal to fly a Saab 340B freighter for a customer, President and Chief Executive Julian Roberts told Cargo Facts.

Pascan leased the 1990-vintage unit 340B-219 from Jetstream Aviation Capital and has temporarily assigned Akron, Ohio-based Castle Aviation to fly the freighter on its behalf. The operation began in July.

“We’re waiting until the STC is approved here by our authorities at Transport Canada,” Roberts says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

“We expect that will be done within the coming month or two when we will import the aircraft onto our certificate and start operating it as a Canadian aircraft,” he says.

Pascan says there is underserved demand in more remote regions in Canada and expects to take on a second Saab 340BF from Jetstream by early 2025.

“There’s been a lot of people knocking at the door asking about different products and how we can move it back and forth, and a lot of that is revolving around seafood right now,” Roberts says. “They feel that the aircraft — its ability, range and the amount of weight that we can fly — that seems to be a good fit for a lot of people.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Pascan as Roberts speaks to Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.

Airship manufacturer Aeros plans to launch two multi-role airships to deliver large payloads globally while serving as aerial hubs for cargo drones.

The smaller of the two airships, the Aeroscraft ML866, can carry up to 66 tonnes of payload up to 3,100 miles, while the larger ML868 is expected to carry up to 250 tonnes over a range of 6,200 miles, Aeros Chief Executive and Chief Engineer Igor Pasternak says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at the 2024 FAA Drone and Advanced Air Mobility Symposium in July.

Aeros hopes to obtain FAA approval for the ML866 and ML868 in 2028 and 2034, respectively, Pasternak says.

Both hydrogen-powered airships can travel at a cruising speed of 120 mph and can hover to pick up or drop off cargo, he says.

“Imagine the airship is some kind of warehouse,” Pasternak tells “Cargo Facts Connect.” “It is certified and has a pilot. You can simply fly over downtown Los Angeles or Beverly Hills — you don’t have any restrictions.

“The drones are located in the airship, and the airship picks up the packages from a warehouse outside the city. It’s a large warehouse and in the city there’s no more land for warehousing. So, it can pick up the packages from the fulfillment center, flying fifteen to twenty miles and parking or hovering over the Pacific neighborhood — with drones just flying up and down delivering packages.”

The Aeroscraft airships will be able to move full cargo payloads with the speed of airfreight but cost less than ground delivery, Pasternak says.

Aeros began developing airships for commercial and military use in 1995 and has delivered its dirigibles to customers across the globe. The company received FAA certification for the Aeros 40B Sky Dragon airship model in 2000 and has received certifications for its airships in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Pasternak’s conversation with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

De Havilland Aircraft of Canada is progressing past the engineering phase for its bulk and large-cargo-door conversions for the Dash 8-400, and plans to certify the programs in 2025.

The two new products build on De Havilland’s Dash 8-400 Quick Change conversion, for which it recently obtained Transport Canada certification.

“We feel that there’s significant market potential in the regional space to connect Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities into main distribution hubs for cargo carriers,” Vice President of Sales and Marketing Ryan DeBrusk says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” recorded at the Farnborough International Airshow last month.

“We feel that the 400 is the right product with its speed and range capabilities and field-performance capabilities to allow carriers, whether it be traditional cargo carriers or non-traditional, to get into markets that they really economically could not do so today.”

De Havilland launched the three Dash 8-400 conversions at the Farnborough show in 2022. Since then, it has secured customers including Ethiopian Airlines, Peru-based ATSA Airlines, Kenya-based Advantage Air and United Arab Emirates-based Falcon Aviation.

“Without a doubt, the supply of aircraft is down from where it was,” DeBrusk said. “That said, I think there will be aircraft on a steady state over the coming years that are perfect for freight conversion, and so we’ll be looking to take advantage of that.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on De Havilland as DeBrusk speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.

AeroUnion in June started flying its first A330-300P2F as part of a fleet renewal and collaboration strategy between it and Avianca Cargo.

AeroUnion has based the 2006-vintage unit 791 (ex-SmartLynx) in Mexico City (NLU) for flights within Mexico and to Colombia and the United States, including some on an ACMI basis for the Colombia-based Avianca Cargo.

“We are really happy to welcome the new technology to our company because it’s a radical turnover to our numbers in terms of ability and capacity, and it’s also a big improvement in fuel consumption,” Chief Executive Danilo Correa says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

“We are expecting to reduce fuel consumption by about 30%, impacting positively our environmental footprint,” he says.

After beginning operations with the A330, AeroUnion retired its final A300-600F (642) at the end of June and has two 1987-vintage 767-200BDSFs left in its fleet.

Unit 791 is the first of two A330-300P2Fs Avianca Cargo will lease from CDB Aviation. The carrier also has two A330-200P2Fs on the way and intends to place more A330s on AeroUnion’s AOC.

Avianca Cargo’s own fleet consists of six production A330-200P2Fs.

“This is a milestone for the partnership because the old fleet is not as reliable, not as efficient and not as big,” Avianca Cargo Senior Vice President Diogo Elias says. “So, we are up-gauging, we are more reliable, and we have much more capacity.”

The two carriers plan to strengthen operations throughout Latin America using their hubs at NLU, Bogota (BOG) and Miami (MIA).

“This is a running business and we, of course, will find new opportunities to take advantage of,” Correa says.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on AeroUnion and Avianca Cargo as Correa and Elias speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.

ATSG is bullish about its growth strategy after a series of changes that culminated with Chief Executive Mike Berger’s appointment June 4.

As part of the leadership change, Jeffrey Dominick became ATSG’s president June 4 after more than seven years as a board member, bringing his Wall Street background to the role.

Dominick’s goal for 2024 is to help continue to position ATSG to evolve further, whether on the asset, customer or capital side, he told Cargo Facts during a visit this week to ATSG’s headquarters in Wilmington, Ohio (ILN).

“I’ve watched [the organization’s] growth evolve, and so in stepping into it right now, I’m excited for the opportunities when we move forward,” Dominick says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” 

“I think we all know how the company has grown with its different asset mix. It’s leasing as well as three airlines underneath. And as I step into it today, if I look at say, the rest of the year, we’re growing with our customers globally.”

ATSG’s leasing arm, CAM, is the largest freighter lessor and is headed by Todd France, who became president of CAM in April 2022 and was previously in other positions within the group.

CAM saw demand for its 767 freighters dip in 2023 and returns from some customers because of the softer market, but the lessor has also found new customers for its 767-300s, and demand for the -200s has “absolutely increased in the past twelve months,” France says.

“We’re placing multiple airplanes at multiple customers in multiple areas across the world,” France says. “So we continue to, in my mind, do a very good job at identifying that growth potential.”

Meanwhile, ATSG will soon place its first A330P2Fs and deliver more A321PCFs on lease, Dominick and France say.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on ATSG and CAM as Dominick and France speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at ILN.

Brazil added its second 737NG freighter operator this year when Modern Logistics began flying the type, even as some of the country’s other carriers take on more Classics.

Modern Logistics is undergoing a transformation to grow its presence in the logistics industry.

“Part of this investment plan was to bring new aircraft,” Chief Executive Cristiano Koga said during a fireside chat at Cargo Facts LATAM 2024 in Panama City this month. Excerpts of this conversation are included in today’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast.

“We are very confident that the aircraft that we have signed and are already operating in Brazil will help us achieve this long-term goal to be an integrated logistics provider with a time-definite product end to end,” Koga notes in the chat.

Modern has leased two 737-800BCFs from BBAM, with the 2004-vintage unit 33566 arriving in October 2023 and its 2003-vintage sibling (33550) arriving in February 2024. They join one 737-400F (25374) and one 737-300F (24219).

“The performance of [the -800s] from a payload perspective, from a cost-to-serve-per-unit perspective is amazing,” Koga said. “So, we’re very excited about the fleet. But again, it needs to serve the right industry, the right sector and the right routes. That’s why one of the pillars of our long-term strategy is network planning.”

Even though Modern has phased out a 737-400F and a 737-300F, it still sees a use for them in at least the next six to twelve months.

“The -300 makes sense for specific projects, like charters or even e-commerce, because it’s the cheapest aircraft,” Koga said. “So, we still have the Classics, we have the two NGs, and it’s proving to be a very good decision to apply [the Classics] to these kinds of projects and leave the NGs for the big routes and international expansion as well.”

Countries at the top of the list to see Modern’s 737-800BCFs include Argentina, Chile and Colombia, he added.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” for the discussion with Koga.

Hamden Aviation is focusing on Latin America as it looks to grow its presence in the freighter segment. 

The Hamden, Conn.-based lessor began supporting the industry by providing CFM56-3C1 engines to cargo operators with 737 Classics. 

“It was just sort of an organic entry [into the freighter space] from the -3C1 market, then working with Classics, then having opportunities, primarily with a focus on emerging markets,” Executive Vice President Dora Alexander told Cargo Facts at Cargo Facts LATAM 2024 in Panama City this week. 

Hamden hopes to increase its market share in Latin America and capitalize on the region’s demand for 737 Classic freighters.

“We believe the appetite is there,” Angel Mora, financial analyst at Hamden, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “We’re talking about phasing into Classics and getting rid of the 727s, so there are still plenty of companies out there that are looking for Classics.” 

Additionally, the lessor plans to add the ATR 72-500F to its freighter portfolio and is evaluating Embraer’s new E190F and E195F conversions. 

“We think [the E-Jet platform] makes a lot of sense in terms of that replacement for the -300 and for that sector of the narrowbody,” Alexander says. “So, it really marries well with our relationships in emerging markets and our current lessee base as well as the international connections that we have.” 

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Hamden Aviation as Alexander and Mora speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee in Panama City. 

Singapore Airlines is preparing for the arrival of its first A350F as it continues to manage the hurdles challenging the freighter market.

The airline will gradually retire its 747-400Fs as Airbus starts delivering its new large-widebody in 2026, but no estimate has been given for when the transition will be complete.

“It’s really a lot of work, and rightly so,” Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President of Cargo Marvin Tan said during a fireside chat at Cargo Facts Asia 2024 in Singapore last week. “I mean, we really have to go through all of our processes, our systems, our training, our preparedness, even staff engagement, with a fine-toothed comb.”

Listen to Tan on the latest episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast.

Singapore Airlines was the first 747-400F operator to commit to the A350F and has seven on firm order.

“From an operational perspective, I think two things. One is that, obviously, you lose the nose-loading capability; for us this is a fairly small segment of the cargo, so I think it’s manageable for us,” Tan says. “The other aspect, of course, is more just the loading configuration, because of the different contours of the aircraft, so some adjustment needed there.”

Geopolitical and economic issues as well as labor and supply chain challenges continue to affect the airfreight industry.

“All these factors come into play in terms of us figuring out how best to make use of the capacity that we have on hand, until, of course, the A350Fs come online,” Tan says.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear an edited extract of the discussion with Tan.

Airbus is making steady progress in the industrialization phase of its new A350F program as components come together and test rigs take shape.

“We’re sorting through and finalizing the processes for assembly ready for next year, into final assembly and then first flight,” Airbus Head of Freighter Marketing Crawford Hamilton tells Cargo Facts in this week’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast. “In the meantime, we test and test and test because one of our big targets is to make sure that we have a mature aircraft at EIS.”

Airbus ended 2023 with firm orders for fifty A350Fs thanks to deals in December with Cathay Pacific for at least six and with Turkish Airlines for at least five.

The European planemaker added five A350Fs to its backlog in March after receiving an order from Taiwan-based Starlux Airlines.

“It shows what we’re doing is right and everything I’ve talked about is really coming to fruition and people are starting to see,” Hamilton said.

Airbus and its suppliers are preparing full-scale mockups of components, including the cargo-loading system and the cargo door. Production of the prototype’s fuselage began in 2023.

The first delivery and entry into service of the A350F will take place in 2026.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Airbus freighters, and get a sneak peek at next week’s Cargo Facts Asia event in Singapore with Titan Aviation Leasing Chief Commercial Officer Eamonn Forbes and World Star Aviation Chief Marketing Officer Nuno Leal.