“It is true that aviation is a very volatile industry,” Group Chief Executive Saska Gerasimova says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “So, it’s not about whether a crisis will happen, but it’s a matter of when and where it will happen.”

Gerasimova, who was appointed group CEO in October 2025, says that her experience at Amazon Air in Europe, in particular, is helping her understand the needs of cargo customers.

“The biggest struggles that our customers have is the uncertainty of the geopolitical situation and the volatility in supply,” she says. “Many customers use these elements as an opportunity and are able to react and adjust quickly, while others are rather postponing the decisions. And this is a very big impact that we’ve seen in the last two or three weeks, for example.”

Gerasimova will share her perspective of the freighter market in light of the war and more in a fireside chat on Wednesday, April 29, at Cargo Facts EMEA 2026 in Brussels.

“I would really love to challenge the ideas that [fellow executives] present,” she says. “I would really love to hear the ideas that they have of how we can work together to minimize the impact on the customers, [not just] in the short term, but also in the long term.”

 Tune in to this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Gerasimova discuss her upcoming fireside chat with Editor Jeff Lee. 

With Shanghai (PVG) one of the major airports connecting the Asia-Pacific region to Europe, the war concerns Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal (PACTL), Hernig says. 

“Some of the main carriers who are serving this route from the Middle East are actually experiencing a disruption of their operation at the moment,” he says. “This has capacity impacts on the market, which means for us as a handling provider, that we have to be extremely flexible and react fast to schedule changes and also additional capacity.”

In turn, Hernig says he believes the war is driving demand for dedicated freighters as passenger flights remain limited.

“I think it will underline the importance of freighter aircraft being a practical tool to increase the resilience of the system of air cargo, as disruptions on the passenger side lead to capacity impacts,” Hernig says.

The air cargo sector must “find quick solutions” for “non-controlled” variables — such as political tensions, tariffs and other factors — affecting the industry amid high global demand, and remain resilient, he says.

Tune in to this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Hernig discuss the market’s outlook and PACTL’s role in handling air cargo at PVG with Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

Onkelbach sat down with Cargo Facts at the IATA World Cargo Symposium in Lima, Peru, this week to discuss the capabilities of Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM), which “has undergone a significant expansion, increasing its land area from 270 hectares to 940 hectares,” he says.

The construction was backed by Germany-based global airport operator Fraport, which acquired an 80% stake in Lima Airport Partners in 2001.

While Onkelbach says he sees “increasing e-commerce interest from all over the world,” LIM is “exporting more than 60% in perishables, blueberries, avocados and, increasingly, mangoes.”

Lima Airport Partners may consider developing a direct cargo corridor between LIM and Peru’s seaport, Onkelbach says.

“We see another opportunity as our location of the airport is just eight kilometers from the seaport to basically, in the future, develop contract concepts to integrate seafreight and airfreight.”

Onkelbach hopes to secure the support of the federal and provincial governments of Peru to create special economic zones that will attract investors to the project.

Tune in to this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Onkelbach discuss Lima Airport Partners’ plans for LIM and share his outlook of the industry with Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

After leading the Airforwarders Association for more than twenty years, Fried looks forward to aiding the industry’s growth independently, noting that there is still much work to be done.

He identifies two main areas of focus: the near-term tightness in global freighter capacity, and sustainability, since only 2% to 3% of the SAF needed by the industry is available.

“I’m concerned about a lack of feedstock for the future,” Fried says. “There are only about 650 [large-widebody] freighters now available worldwide, and we’re concerned about that.”

Reflecting on AfA’s milestone achievements, Fried points to TSA’s Certified Cargo Screening Program, which enables certified facilities to pre-screen air freight before acceptance by an aircraft operator or indirect air carrier. The idea faced significant resistance in Washington, D.C., when it was proposed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“There were opinions on Capitol Hill that freight should not be flying in the bellies of passenger planes due to security issues,” he says. “And we convinced Congress as well as the TSA that we could handle the job of handling our own security, and we did.”

Fried’s outlook remains upbeat despite the uncertain trade environment and believes freight forwarding will always have a role in helping customers overcome the challenges ahead.

“We’re advisers and we’re called in for that role,” he says. “Flexibility, being the source of information to the customers, is never going to go out of style, so we’re bullish on the future.”

Tune in to this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Fried discuss his takeaways as an industry leader with Editor Jeff Lee and Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

“More volume is going into Central and South America versus the U.S., and with de minimis, trade patterns certainly have changed,” Chief Executive Joe Mozzali says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “So, we’ve seen a lot of demand for e-commerce in various countries and on a scheduled charter basis.”

Amerijet’s revenue increased by 12% and EBITDA by 9% in 2025, and the carrier was ranked third in terms of tonnage in Miami (MIA) in 2025, Mozzali says.

Two 767-300BCFs have joined the fleet on lease from NAS Aircraft Leasing in the past three months, although Amerijet will have to furlough around thirty-five pilots at the end of February because of the termination of a CMI arrangement for Maersk.

While Amerijet faced a 30% escalation rate in engine costs in 2025, the carrier expects that to normalize somewhat this year and is leaning into AI to develop a reliability portal so maintenance can be more predictive than reactive, Mozzali says.

“We’re just probably about three months into it, so it’s in its early stages,” he says. “But we have some high expectations that we can improve our reliability by leveraging AI.”

Once the most recent 767 addition begins flying, it will bring Amerijet’s own fleet to eleven 767-300 freighters. 

“With the additional aircraft, we can be a little bit more opportunistic on the on-demand charter market, but overall, we think that in existing markets the tide is going to continue to rise,” Mozzali says.

Tune in to this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Mozzali discuss Amerijet’s plans with Editor Jeff Lee and Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

The South Carolina Department of Commerce awarded Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) a $5 million grant in 2024 to acquire new ground service equipment and renovate its west cargo building to support additional warehousing and air cargo operations.

Apart from FedEx and UPS, there really are no other cargo-handling capabilities at CAE, Ryan Kreulen, vice president of operations at the airport, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

Air cargo flights accounted for 14% of CAE’s total traffic in 2025, with most of the 40,000 tonnes of air freight moving through the airport being handled by FedEx and UPS.

In addition to having customs on site at the airport, CAE provides an escape from the congestion found in larger markets and the experience of working with large freighter operators, Chief Executive Chris White says in the podcast.

Tune into this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear White and Kreulen discuss with Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke how they plan to attract more cargo operators to the capital of South Carolina.

EnComm had made multiple investments building its infrastructure, including heavy maintenance repairs for its ATP fleet, when it learned of BAE’s decision to discontinue its support, making it nearly impossible for the carrier to continue operating the type, EnComm Aviation Director Jackton Obuola says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

“There were a lot of investments we were still making,” Obuola says. “For instance, we were in the process of overhauling landing gears, overhauling engines, returning to service a lot of aircraft, spending up to $15 million.”

EnComm has filed a lawsuit in London seeking $250 million in punitive damages and claiming negligent misrepresentation and misstatement by BAE.

The Kenyan startup was surprised by the decision after meeting with BAE and receiving commitments for continued support for its ATP fleet, Obuola says.

EnComm was operating four ATP freighters and was preparing to enter service with the remaining nine ATP aircraft it had acquired from Sweden-based West Atlantic.

BAE invited EnComm to the United Kingdom for a meeting when the startup reached out to the manufacturer in May 2024, Obuola says. Parts and suppliers for the ATP aircraft type were in attendance, including parts distributor Saywell International, component supplier Safra[MM3] n and propeller supplier PropTech.

“Our BAE representative at the time said as long as there’s one BAE ATP aircraft in service, they will continue supporting it,” Obuola says.

Even though EnComm has ceased operations, its legal pursuit of BAE is just beginning. Tune into this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Obuola discuss with Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke the events that grounded the regional carrier and the next steps it will take.

UPS’ CF6-powered, 1991-vintage MD-11F (48417) failed to maintain its climb and crashed after its left engine separated from the wing during takeoff from Louisville, Ky. (SDF).

MROs under microscope

The FAA and NTSB should look closely at the maintenance checks carriers have outsourced to third-party MROs, Stephen Carbone, president of private maintenance consultant firm Aircraft Maintenance Safety Professionals, says.

A former FAA airworthiness inspector and NTSB major accident investigator, Carbone says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” that he believes there is not enough oversight from the FAA or quality control from airlines that outsource aircraft maintenance.

“Since the early ’90s, the airlines have relied a lot more on repair station overhaul facilities to do their work,” Carbone says. “And the problem with that is the airline loses control of the maintenance.”

Tragic similarities

In addition, the November crash had tragic similarities to a 1979 crash of an American Airlines DC-10 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) that killed all 271 people. 

“The basic problem that caused the American Airlines DC-10 crash was the departure of the engine, almost exactly like the UPS MD-11F,” Steve Forness, president of aircraft engineering consultancy Air Flight Technical, says in the podcast. “It went up over the wing. The failure was the aft pylon.”

As a member of the McDonnell-Douglas team assigned to the American Airlines DC-10 crash and an FAA designated engineering representative, Forness aided the NTSB investigation, which identified improper installation of the engines as the cause of the aft bulkhead failure in the pylon.

Although the lessons learned from the DC-10 were implemented into the design and operation of MD-11s, the NTSB revealed in its Nov. 20 preliminary report of the UPS crash that it had discovered fatigue cracks in the pylon aft mount of the left engine.

As the NTSB investigation into UPS flight 2976 continues and around sixty MD-11Fs remain grounded, tune into this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear Carbone and Forness share their insights with Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke on the accident and what could happen before the MD-11Fs return to service.

Chex Air, which has offices in Dubai and Miami, expects to begin flying an A300-600F around March 2026 to connect Africa and the Middle East with South America, Head of Operations Sebastian Bolivar says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at the Dubai Airshow 2025.

The aircraft will be on lease from United Arab Emirates-based Sky One and operate under Chex Air’s Chilean AOC, Bolivar says.

“If this goes well, we’re going to incorporate a 747 into our fleet,” he says.

There are no A300s or 747s registered in Chile. The most recent South American A300 freighter operator was Venezuela-based Transcarga, which retired its final unit in 2024.

Chex Air plans to bring more jets from the United States and South America to Dubai and the Middle East to cater to strong demand for charter flights, Bolivar says.

“I think our vision for the next five years is to really have a fleet of 747-400Fs [flying] from South America to Dubai and all the way back,” he says. “It’s a great opportunity.”

In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear more about Chex Air’s strategy as Bolivar speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee in Dubai.

A highlight will be a panel discussion on the various 777 conversions, Anna Kopinski, director of asset valuations at mba Aviation, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

“I’m actually really excited to discuss [the 777] because we’ve been monitoring this aircraft and these converted 777s, only one is coming into service and we’re still waiting on the -200LR, but I think it’s a very interesting space that people are keeping an eye on,” she says.

Mammoth began certification flights with its 777-200LRMF prototype with the FAA in September.

“We’re still looking forward to getting the STC in 2025,” Mammoth Chief Executive Bill Tarpley says on “Cargo Facts Connect.” “That’ll allow us to finish up and deliver at least six of the seven airplanes we have in work.”

Meanwhile, in the narrowbody segment, 2025 continued to be slow, but 2026 may see a slight pickup in activity.

As a lessor supporting some of the smaller carriers in the industry, Hamden Aviation had to become more flexible with its narrowbody freighter customers this year, Executive Vice President Dora Alexander tells Cargo Facts.“I think we’re seeing a lot shorter planning times from a leasing perspective,” she says. “It certainly has provided us with an extra level of challenge trying to meet the needs of our lessees, whether it’s on a question of swapping out engines or expanding their fleet needs.”

The high demand for narrowbody engines in the passenger sector this year has not only proven to be a challenge for lessors but for conversion companies as well.

AEI hopes to complete six to ten 737-800SF conversions in 2026. That number will depend solely on the availability of CFM56-7B engines, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Bob Convey says.

“If the demand is there for hopefully six to ten conversions, customers have got to, in most cases, find and acquire feedstock on the spot,” he says. “And again, if the engines are just too expensive, that’s going to be very difficult to do.”

AEI will also unveil its next conversion program at Cargo Facts Symposium 2025.

Hear a preview of the discussions to come at the event as Kopinski, Tarpley, Alexander and Convey speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee and Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke in this episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” 

Herzliya, Israel-based Cyviation, founded in 2021, offers intelligence and monitoring solutions to map possible cyber threats to aircraft and related aviation systems.

Cyviation determines vulnerabilities and monitors multiple platforms and devices, especially those used for communication, to protect commercial aircraft from cyberattacks, according to the company. Cyviation does this through digital twin technology.

Digital twin technology creates a virtual replica of a system that collects and analyzes data in real-time, allowing users to pinpoint weaknesses and predict problems.

“The way we are building [these digital twins] is basically from analyzing data only,” Cyviation Chief Executive Eliran Almog says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

Cyviation does not touch the plane, either physically or through software, Almog says.

“We just look at the data — the data of the airplane, the model data and the data [from] maintenance, the specific data of a specific tail number,” he says. “From this data, we basically map the entire network [of] devices, and the connections and communication between the devices, and start to assess, through that digital twin, the vulnerabilities.”

In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear about using digital twin technology for commercial aviation cybersecurity as Cyviation’s Almog speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer.

The company this week launched a unified AI agent to integrate multiple AI functions and tools into a single autonomous software solution.

“The next stage of this AI revolution is the AI agent,” CargoAi founder and Chief Executive Matt Petot says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” in a discussion on the tool’s development.

CargoCoPilot Agent can automate responses to up to 50% of the emails received by airlines and freight forwarders, according to the company. The multilingual agent can also operate across WhatsApp, partner platforms and CargoAi’s CargoMart platform.

The agent, CargoAi said, can:

• Track air waybills with real-time updates;
• Perform rate and capacity searches using plain language, such as “300 kg SIN to JFK next Tue”;
• Auto-book directly in airline systems; and
• Provide answers to questions relating to ground handling, surcharges, contacts and other frequently asked questions.

CargoCoPilot will enable users to increase productivity as if they had far more employees, Petot said.

“In terms of coding, we have twenty developers in our team,” he said. “We had twenty developers last year, but now every developer is using AI agents, and the output of our developers is much more than before. It's forecasted to double at the end of the year, and that's really exactly the same that I think we can do with airlines.”

In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear about the air cargo industry’s growing embrace of AI and new technologies being launched as CargoAi’s Petot speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer.

7Air Cargo, formed by The Xtreme Group (TXG), received FAA Part 121 approval in February and began air cargo service in May. It now operates two 737-800SFs and one 737-800BCF, and expects to put a fourth 737-800 freighter into service by yearend.

7Air held an inauguration ceremony with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department in Miami (MIA) on Aug. 15 to commemorate the opening of the airline’s hub at the airport.

For the executive team overseeing 7Air’s daily operations, the ceremony represented a milestone noting its achievements and serving as a reminder of the challenges still to come.

“It’s definitely been a learning curve getting into the airline and cargo industry, since we’re kind of running them side by side,” Chairman and Managing Partner Jose Rodriguez says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

“The good thing is that we’ve been able to tackle the different objectives through me and [Vice President of Commercial Operations and Partner Carlos Cock]. Most days, we divide our attention,” Rodriguez says. “I’ll handle the maintenance side of things, and Carlos will manage operations to make sure that we have fluidity and efficiency across the board.”

As executives with years of MRO experience, 7Air’s leadership team is familiar with managing aircraft maintenance for customers, Cock says.

But the tables have turned.

“Now, we are the customer,” he says. “Xtreme Aviation is handling a majority of the maintenance for 7Air and it’s allowed us to really see how important the operational side of things is, making sure that communication is not only key but fluid, and that everybody’s on the same page regarding what we’re doing, enabling us to make changes on the MRO side to better serve our customers.”

In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear about the day-to-day operations, challenges and early stage growth of this new carrier as 7Air’s leaders speak with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

“Motu Link Airline was created to meet a clear logistical need across French Polynesia's widely dispersed islands,” Chief Executive Alexandre Mu says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “The project was licensed in 2021 and was restructured in 2024 after market analysis to focus exclusively on dedicated inter-island cargo operations.”

The French Polynesian archipelago has 120 islands, which together are as large as Europe when including the ocean areas between the islands, making it very difficult to provide logistical support to the residents, Head of Marketing and Communications Judith Rodriguez says.

Local carriers such as Air Tahiti Nui and Air Moana tend to focus more on passenger service, so most cargo is distributed by ocean vessels, which could take as long as three weeks to reach the remote islands in the archipelago, Rodriguez said.

Motu took a different approach to acquiring its 2004-vintage ATR 72-500F (713, ex-Binter Canarias) when the startup received more than $3.6 million from the local islanders through crowdfunding.

“We are really looking forward to starting operations because there are high expectations from Islanders around the project,” Mu says. “It will bring many benefits to our economy and further open up our islands.”

In this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” hear about the carrier’s unorthodox approach to securing investment capital through crowdfunding and perspective of the local market as Rodriguez and Mu speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee and Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

Introducing the 777-8F platform to Cargolux’s uniform fleet of fourteen 747-8Fs and sixteen 747-400Fs will result in alterations to its operations, President and Chief Executive Richard Forson says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Air Cargo Europe 2025 in Munich this month.

“I think we can make it work, but it will take more managing,” Forson says in a rare public interview. “I think it will take more time, more thinking in advance as to where these aircraft would be deployed at the end of the day, because the last thing I want to be doing is having to break pallets down to rebuild and to put onto another aircraft.”

Cargolux announced in October 2022 a firm order ten 777-8Fs along with options for six after Boeing said at the Farnborough International Airshow 2022 that it had secured Cargolux as a customer for the program.

Cargolux’s fleet has remained the same since 2020 when it picked up a 2006-vintage 747-400F (35170) that had exited service with United Kingdom-based CargoLogicAir.

“My philosophy is I’d rather be short on capacity than long, because if I’m short on capacity, I can always make money during the good times, and when the bad times come along, then obviously I have a lot less exposure to downturns in the market,” Forson says. “And the good years have helped us to build up the resilience of the airline, so our balance sheet is strong and we’ve kept a lot of liquidity in expectation of any downturn in the market.”

For the remainder of 2025, one priority for Forson and Cargolux is being able to adapt to any new trade agreements that come into place as countries around the world grapple with tariffs and war.

“I think that’s the most important thing,” he says. “What is going to happen to global trade?”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Cargolux as Forson speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Air Cargo Europe 2025 in Munich.

“We’re going to paint the aircraft — that’s going to take a couple of weeks — and then the aircraft is going straight into service as soon as we get it registered.,” Awesome Cargo founder and Chief Executive Luis Ramos says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Air Cargo Europe 2025 in Munich this week.

The 2011-vintage, CF6-powered aircraft (1252, ex-ITA Airways) is the first of three A330-200P2Fs Awesome will lease from Air Lease and will soon depart EFW’s facility in Dresden (DRS). The second unit (1218) is nearing completion at DRS while the third (1225) will soon enter conversion, Ramos says.

By mid-2026, Awesome aims to have all three A330-200P2Fs flying trans-Pacific routes.

“For the time being, we still believe Asia, Mexico, the U.S. and Latin America are where we want to operate right now,” Ramos says. “The complexities of extending routes to other markets and other regions with our current setup would be a little aggressive and maybe even a little irresponsible.”

Awesome is the second A330-200P2F Mexican operator after Mas. Six other carriers operate the type:

• Air China Cargo;
• EgyptAir;
• Qantas;
• Air Belgium;
• Turkmenistan Airlines; and
• Capital Airlines.

Awesome Cargo received its Mexican AOC in October 2023 after emerging as a cargo operator earlier that year. Until now, the new carrier had only been flying units 1218 and 1225 with reversibly reconfigured Class E main decks.

“I can’t tell you what the future will bring, but I can tell you that our guard will be up, and I can tell you that we’re going to be enjoying every process and every step of the way,” Ramos says.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Awesome as Ramos speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Air Cargo Europe 2025 in Munich.

“We need to freeze tariffs, not freeze trade,” Fried said at CNS Partnership Conference 2025 in Miami last week.

The U.S. imposed a flat 10% tariff against all countries, effective April 5, and has delayed implementation of reciprocal tariffs pending negotiations with affected countries.  

The only country excluded from the reciprocal tariff reprieve is China. Last week, following negotiations, the U.S. dropped its tariff against China to 30% from 145% and China dropped its tariff against the U.S. to 10% from 125%. The lowered tariffs will remain in effect for three months, giving the countries time to negotiate a permanent resolution.

Also, the U.S.’s de minimis exception for goods from China and Hong Kong ended May 2. Under de minimis regulations, companies shipping goods into the U.S. are not required to pay tariffs on shipments valued at less than $800.

The tariff and de minimis changes will adversely affect the air cargo industry, Fried told Cargo Facts.

“We understand that these tariffs were initially set to balance the trade deficit of foreign goods entering the U.S., and that tariffs are a commonplace mechanism of international trade,” he said. “The instability caused, however, by mass tariff implementation, negotiation and bilateral agreements, as well as inevitable disputes over high rates, has hit our industry.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more about the state of the air cargo industry in today’s political climate as Fried speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer at CNS Partnership Conference 2025 in Miami.

The carrier ventured into the freighter market in 2023, shortly after it got its AOC, with an A321-200P2F (2005, ex-Red Wings) on lease from BBAM and leased another (1094, ex-Aer Lingus) toward the end of that year.

“We started with two. We were a little bit hesitant about the third one, to be perfectly honest,” Fleet Director Douglas Anderson says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 in Istanbul this week.

“The third one came, and now we’re talking about perhaps a fourth, because all the business we have with Turkish Airlines is enough for three aircraft, potentially four, and then we do our own ad hoc operations as well, and that’s gradually growing,” Anderson says.

The third freighter (1670, ex-Air Busan) joined BBN’s fleet in September 2024, also on lease from BBAM.

BBN is set to expand even further and enter the widebody segment. The carrier will lease the prototype 777-300ERMF (35299, ex-Nordwind Airlines) from AviaAM Leasing after completion and certification.

“We see that we can’t have one aircraft — it just doesn’t make sense,” Anderson says. “So, we’re probably looking at three, perhaps four. Again, initially, it’ll be with Turkish Airlines, because that’s the easiest way when you’ve only one aircraft, to potentially setting up our own little operation between the Far East and the U.S., pending tariffs, bringing it into Istanbul and then spreading it out using the network.”

However, a lack of Turkish pilots is constraining growth, he says.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on BBN as Anderson speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 in Istanbul.

See more coverage of Cargo Facts EMEA 2025.

Gadhia will join a panel discussion on the growing narrowbody freighter demand at Cargo Facts EMEA 2025, taking place May 6-May 8 in Istanbul. 

“All in all, I’m feeling very positive and bullish, and I'm also looking forward to actually expressing the same and learning when we meet in Istanbul next week,” Gadhia says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

Kenya-based Astral Aviation remains optimistic and has chosen to focus less on geopolitical events and more on the EMEA region, he said.

Astral, which recently took delivery of its first 767-300BDSF (24146, ex-Amerijet) on lease from Palm Beach, Fla.-based Flight Lease, signed a memorandum of understanding with Emirates SkyCargo this year to explore ways to increase global trade, specifically within Africa. 

“I believe that the region is poised to have a major surge with all the geopolitical situations taking place,” Gadhia says. “And I feel very bullish that within the next three months, after the dust has settled … I actually believe that the EMEA region is where I see a lot of new opportunities.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on the EMEA market as Gadhia speaks with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

With two more 767s potentially following in 2025, Astral has obtained its own aircraft maintenance organization certification and will soon conduct its own C check on its 767-200BDSF for the first time.

“In the past, we’ve always outsourced the C checks, but now we’re going to do it ourselves,” Astral founder and Chief Executive Sanjeev Gadhia says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at the IATA World Cargo Symposium 2025 in Dubai this week. “So, we’re really excited, because it’s a C4 check and it’s going to be done in-house in Kenya at the Kenya Airways hangar.” 

Astral had expected the 1988-vintage, CF6-powered 767-300BDSF (24146, ex-Amerijet) by the end of 2024 but delays meant the carrier missed the yearend peak season.

“I think the biggest problem that we are all facing right now is the delays,” Gadhia says. “There was a time when those delays were never there, and the delays were there only for the production freighters. Now we are seeing a situation where leased aircraft are also experiencing delays, either because of engine-related issues or avionics.”

The 767-300BDSF is the second new freighter type in the past six months for Astral, which received a 1992-vintage 737-400F (27082, ex-Alaska Airlines) on lease from Avmax in late 2024.

While the global airfreight market tries to navigate the fallout from the trade war, Astral and Kenya are not too concerned. 

“I still believe that Africa would really benefit from this whole opportunity, because generally Africa, with the exception of South Africa and two other countries, is at 10%,” Gadhia says, referring to the tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump recently imposed on goods from countries around the world.

Skyway obtained its AOC in July 2024 after leasing a 1998-vintage 737-400BDSF (29208) from AerCap. It is the first 737-400 freighter operator in the Philippines and intends to add more of the type.

“It took us two and a half years to get our AOC,” founder and Chief Executive Jose Peralta says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Cargo Facts Asia 2025 in Shanghai this week.

“And there’s a prerequisite with the Philippine authorities that you have to demonstrate domestic operations first before you go international. So, there were a lot of preparations, a lot of legal documents that we needed to submit. We had to undergo hearings with the Department of Transportation just to get our permit to operate internationally.”

While the first international flight was from Clark (CRK) to Hong Kong (HKG), Skyway is working on developing other routes and could start flying to Macau (MFM) soon.

“We are applying for our CCAR 129 permit for China,” Director of Business Development and External Affairs Vedant Bhardwaj says. “That’s why we are here. So, we’re looking into that and definitely another destination which we see is Vietnam.”

Domestic operations are challenging because of competition with sea freight rates and belly cargo rates, whereas Skyway can achieve better rates for international e-commerce, for example, Peralta says.

“We’re trying to solve a problem; to connect the islands and also connect the Philippines to the outer regions,” he says. “So, that is the goal, and that is the aim, and hopefully we get to achieve it.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Skyway as Peralta and Bhardwaj speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee and Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke at Cargo Facts Asia 2025 in Shanghai.

The IATA SAF Registry, scheduled to launch in April, aims to help create a global SAF market, IATA stated in January. The registry is designed to enable airlines to document SAF benefits to show compliance with regulatory and voluntary obligations.

The interoperability will focus on three elements: 

• Unique coding and alignment of relevant data points to exchange between registries; 
• A process for the exchange of information to avoid double issuance; and 
• A dispute resolution process.

“Registry interoperability can be quite a few things,” Jeroen van Heiningen, founder and managing director of 123Carbon, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “What we’re doing now is to avoid the redundancies and the double issuance, so to make sure that fuel is not registered on a registry twice, [which could] lead to double counting. It also means that we are aligning the data models that we are using. We’re using the same taxonomy and using the same wording.”

123Carbon’s platform supports fuel suppliers, fleet operators, forwarders and cargo owners in the issuance, management and transfer of environmental attribute certificates (EAC). EACs represent carbon reductions that have been achieved, such as those achieved through SAF, and are then allocated to freight forwarders, cargo owners and others.

The company also offers a book-and-claim solution to SAF suppliers and airlines to allocate company-branded SAF EACs to customers in a private environment.

IATA and the International Civil Aviation Organization have said SAF is the most reliable way to eliminate carbon emissions from aviation in the next twenty-five years. IATA set an aviation industry target of reaching net-zero by 2050.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on 123Carbon as van Heiningen speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer. 

Hanwha Aviation, a subsidiary of South Korea-based conglomerate Hanwha Group, launched in May 2024 and appointed Laura Ivaskaite as vice president of commercial and investments in September.

Ivaskaite joined Hanwha after almost four years looking after the aircraft and engine fleet at SmartLynx, which expanded its fleet to fourteen A321 freighters in 2024.

“The core service, the core of [Hanwha Aviation’s] business, is narrowbody engines, but we will have a small aircraft portfolio as well, and that’s both on the passenger and cargo side,” Ivaskaite says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance Americas 2025 and Aero-Engines Americas 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas, in late January.

“So, the whole idea is to build up the leasing platform,” she says. “We’re also looking to have MRO capabilities in an engine shop in the near future.”

Hanwha is “very open” to acquiring freighters, even if that ultimately is an engine-driven move, Ivaskaite says.

“Narrowbody freighters has been an engine play for a lot of people in the last couple of years,” she says. “But I’d probably say that we see the 737-800 freighter market picking up a little bit.”

Singapore-based Hanwha is looking to the Asia-Pacific region as a key market for expansion. The lessor also has offices in Dublin and Boca Raton, Fla.

“We want to really have the expertise in Asia Pacific,” Ivaskaite says. “And at the same time, we recognize that that’s the market that will be growing again, both on the passenger and air cargo side, and there is going to be huge demand for the engines — there already is.”

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

The airline plans to put its two A321-200P2Fs into service on Feb. 15, it announced last week. The two 2006-vintage, V2500-powered freighters (2741 and 2759), which Azul has leased from AerCap, arrived in Brazil in the fourth quarter of 2024 and will be based in Campinas (VCP).

“We are very, very excited to have this airplane fly in terms of capacity, reliability and to expand with new routes,” Azul Cargo Fleet and Operations Manager Dario Matsuguma says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect,” recorded at Cargo Facts LATAM 2025 in Sao Paulo.

“[Our customers] are asking us a lot of questions about the opportunities they are getting for this new fleet,” he says.

The Airbus narrowbodies are replacing Azul’s two leased 737-400Fs — the only Boeing aircraft in the carrier’s fleet. In fact, Azul has already removed one from service, with the 1997-vintage unit 28053 entering storage at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport (LDE) in France in December 2024 while the 1996-vintage unit 28198 is still flying.

“The second one, we expect to return in March,” Matsuguma says. “But I can say that [the 737s] did a great job. They opened the market for cargo and freighters, and we all learned a lot with that airplane, but we decided to shift to the A321 due to commonality with our passenger fleet; the synergy is the key factor for us.”

Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency validated the EFW A321-200P2F conversion and the 321 Precision Conversions A321-200PCF in September 2024.

The first Latin American operator of an A321F was fellow Brazilian carrier Levu, which got its AOC in November 2024 and started flying a 1998-vintage, CFM56-powered A321-200PCF (775) that it subleased from SmartLynx.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Azul as Matsuguma speaks with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke at Cargo Facts LATAM 2025.

The group’s own airline, Fly Vaayu, obtained its AOC in October 2024 and is flying the Middle East’s first A320 freighter around the region as well as to India and Vietnam.

“We’ve been really pleasantly surprised,” Vaayu Group Chief Executive Vijay Arumbakkam says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “The A320 compared to its competition has a very high level of reliability, which our customers like; consistency, which they like; and on average we tend to carry 18 to 20 tonnes of cargo.”

“So, over a five-hour range, this aircraft performs really well, and we’ve also been impressed with the fuel burn of this aircraft.”

With at least one more A320-200P2F joining its fleet in the next couple of months, Fly Vaayu will become the largest A320 freighter operator.

Vaayu is based in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates (RKT), where the animal quarantine facilities help to support the movement of livestock between India and the U.A.E, Arumbakkam says.

“Hopefully we are soon going to expand that to include general cargo within the next six months or so as we begin to build our ecosystem in the airport.”

Vaayu Group acquired a majority stake in India-based Pradhaan Air Express, the launch operator of the A320P2F program, in November 2023. Since then, the two carriers have worked together to share their expertise and resources, Arumbakkam says.

“There’s a great opportunity for us to harness our synergies for the local [Indian] market,” he says. “Pradhaan first would like to focus with us and enhance this current business partnership that we have, and then the intent over this year is to see how best we can also translate some of those processes into serving more domestic customers.”

“We are still at the business plan stage for it, but we are very excited about our partnership and collaboration with Pradhaan.”

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

SolitAir’s own freighter will add to three ACMI 737-800BCFs operated by ASL Airlines Ireland.

“The 730-800 was the best of its class to do the work that I’m looking for,” SolitAir Chairman and Chief Executive Hamdi Osman says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

SolitAir intends to become an express cargo airline offering a daily schedule with flights of up to six hours from its base in Dubai (DWC).

“My goal is to have at least ten aircraft in the first one-and-a-half years of operations,” Osman says, adding that these will likely all be narrowbodies.

ASL has already deployed two 737-800BCFs to DWC for the ACMI arrangement, with the 2005-vintage unit 33023 starting service in October 2024 and the 2007-vintage unit 32686 following in December. The third aircraft will arrive soon, Osman said.

SolitAir hopes to get its AOC by the end of January and is considering multiple AOCs to capitalize on growth opportunities not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and Turkey.

“The more I get to know about the global South, the more I get excited,” Osman says.

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

But merely telling drone operators that they cannot fly in certain airspace does not solve the problem, as these restrictions lack enforcement. This is where San Francisco-based Dedrone comes in.

Acquired by technology and weapons manufacturer Axon in October 2024, Dedrone develops smart airspace security technology such as counter-drone detection, tracking, identification and mitigation technologies.

In today’s “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast, hear from Dedrone, which has worked with the FAA to develop and test an uncrewed aircraft systems detection and mitigation program that helps airports protect their airspace from unauthorized drones.

Dedrone also offers technologies that jam communications between a drone and the operator. The DedroneDefender precision jammer has narrow-band jamming to minimize disruption to other devices and meets military standards. This use of narrow-band or “comb” jamming reduces the risk of interference with other systems in the area, including Wi-Fi or radar.

Thousands of violations daily

“Every single day there are literally hundreds of illegal drone flights,” Mary-Lou Smulders, chief marketing officer and head of government affairs at Dedrone, told Cargo Facts.

Dedrone recorded 1.19 million illegal drone flights in 2024 within its network of more than fifty U.S. cities. So far in 2025, Dedrone has recorded 22,188 illegal drone flights, according to Dedrone’s Drone Violations Database.

However, having the technology to detect and mitigate illegal drones is not enough. Dedrone is working with the FAA and U.S. government to support enforcement of drone laws and restrictions.

“To detect those noncompliant drones and lack the authority to mitigate potentially dangerous drones, it’s a classic situation of the technology getting ahead of the legislation,” Smulders said.

“If one good thing comes out of the New Jersey incidents, it’s this awakening to the fact that there are thousands of violating drones every single day and our police lack the authority to detect them.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on counter-drone technology and priority as Smulders speaks with Cargo Facts Deputy Editor Yael Katzwer.

While Texel Air Australasia obtained its AOC in 2023, Texel Air in September celebrated its 10th year of operations.

“We never set out to own an airline and we sort of got into it by default, but it’s been a fantastic journey, starting with very humble beginnings,” George Chisholm, chief executive of Chisholm Enterprises and executive director of Texel Air, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

After removing its final 737-300F, the fleet stands at ten 737NG freighters, with three -800BCFs and two -700FCs at Texel Air and five -800BCFs at Texel Air Australasia. Two or three more aircraft will join the New Zealand fleet in 2025, Chisholm tells Cargo Facts.

Texel Air Australasia in October received extended diversion time operations (EDTO) approval for up to 120 minutes, which will help the carrier grow its operations for Australia-based Team Global Express and fly certain routes more efficiently, especially between Australia and New Zealand.

“We’ve kind of had to hold back our plans going trans-Tasman until we got the EDTO approval, which we’re happy to say we have now,” Chisholm says. “And now, once we get these few more aircraft into our fleet, we will start to fly that route pretty extensively, mostly between Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland and Christchurch, in a variety of route configurations.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on Texel Air as Chisholm speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.

\The 2007-vintage unit 35131 (ex-TUI Airways) joined the RwandAir fleet in November 2022 on lease from Merx Aviation, marking the airline’s entry into the freighter segment.

RwandAir has used the 737-800SF on routes within Africa as well as to the Middle East to complement its belly operations.

“We’re looking at ways to accommodate the demand that has been brought by the narrowbody services and also the widebody A330 passenger flights,” Jean Bosco Gakwaya, director of cargo at RwandAir, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

The carrier launched an African cargo hub in May 2023 as part of a joint project with Qatar Airways Cargo. Given Rwanda’s landlocked nature and its location in Africa, RwandAir plans to develop its freighter operations to serve the continent and is looking at options to expand the fleet.

“The nature of the equipment that we would be bringing onboard could be an A321F or another 737-800F,” Gakwaya says. “That is something that definitely we’ll keep in our mind in the near future.”

Other African carriers have since stepped into the 737NG freighter segment, including EgyptAir, Serve Air, Kenya Airways and TAAG Angola Airlines.

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

The Denver-based lessor has grown its portfolio to about $500 million in assets under management since becoming an independent subsidiary of Air T in July 2022. That portfolio includes freighter and passenger aircraft and engines as well as landing gear, Crestone Chief Executive Kevin Milligan says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

The lessor started its freighter activities by buying two 737 Classics in 2022, but Crestone now aims to make larger, “package type” transactions, Milligan says.

“In our earlier days, I think we were focused on smaller stuff generally just to get going and to build the track record and the portfolio,” he says. “And now we’re trying to look a little bit more toward scale and some efficiency with the platform.”

Crestone in late 2023 moved into 737NG freighters and bought three from GA Telesis with leases attached, but it still sees value in 737-400Fs.

“Granted, there are still a lot of parked aircraft and it’s going to take years for that to be reabsorbed into the system but, fundamentally, people need freighters and there’s a trend, I think, to more and more of that,” Milligan says. “So, we look for those types of value dynamics. We like the -800 still, at the right price.”

In October, Crestone added another freighter type to its portfolio by taking on the first of two A321Fs under management. That aircraft is an A321-200PCF on lease to Global Crossing Airlines.

“We’re looking for customers out in the market that might want to adopt the A321F,” Milligan says. “We think it offers a lot of capability. It hasn’t been widely adopted yet, though, and I think that’ll come in time.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more of Milligan’s conversation about Crestone with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

Over the past year, carriers in countries including Georgia and Uzbekistan have entered the medium-widebody market and grown using 767s from ATSG’s leasing arm, CAM.

“The thing that we’re very keenly aware of is how much capacity can be absorbed into this market,” Berger said in a fireside chat at Cargo Facts Symposium 2024 in San Diego last week. “And that’s something we have a very, very close eye on. And we see our competitors and some other lessors also leasing aircraft into the same markets. So, we’ll balance that out with how many more assets we think they can absorb.”

Meanwhile, ATSG sent its first A330 for conversion with EFW in late 2023 as part of its growth and transition into Airbus medium widebodies. The group expects to deliver its first two A330-300P2Fs on lease by the end of the year, with a couple more to follow in early 2025, Berger said.

“It’s our future,” he said. “Make no mistake about it.”

The group appointed Todd France as chief commercial officer in August. Most recently president of CAM, France reports to Jeff Dominick, who became ATSG president in June when Berger became CEO.

“They’re good thinkers; they’re going to challenge us, challenge me, challenge the others to evolve our business,” Berger said. “We really firmly believe that our business needs to continue to evolve. We can’t stand still. We won’t stand still, and these two guys, specifically, are new parts of the leadership that are going to help us get there.”

Tune in to this episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more from Berger’s fireside chat with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Cargo Facts Symposium 2024.

The panel on freighter aircraft and engine leasing, moderated by Mylene Scholnick, senior manager and head of worldwide fleet and carriers at Amazon Global Air, discussed recent trends and developments in the segment, including market saturation and increasing costs. The panelists were:

• Dora Alexander, executive vice president of Hamden Aviation;
• Ryan Anderson, vice president of commercial in the Americas at Aero Capital Solutions;
• Maik Falkuss, director of sales in North America at MTU AENA; and
• David Ellis, SVP and global head of asset transactions at GA Telesis.

“Right now, there are probably over fifty 737 freighters for sale currently being actively marketed,” Alexander said. “So that gives a bit of a scope of what we’re talking about in terms of creating that downward pressure on lease pricing and people making different decisions on leasing out these engines.”

Some lessors have removed engines from both A321Fs and 737-800Fs immediately after conversion and leased out the engines separately for passenger use, the panel said.

“Lessors, depending on how they’re structured, have the ability to be patient,” Anderson said. “And let’s take the -800, for example. As long as lease rates are as high as they are for the [CFM56-7B], a lessor can afford to be potentially patient with that airframe in storage while those two engines are out creating value for customers and for lessor shareholders in the market.”

GA Telesis’ Ellis said that the industry has not yet seen 737NG freighters replacing 737 Classics in large numbers, while operators are deferring shop visits for their engines and turning to engine leasing instead.

“Couple that with a high volume of aircraft converted, the Classics staying in service longer — it’s sort of a perfect storm of the freighter values suffering while at the same time, engine values have gone up,” he said.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more from the panel at Cargo Facts Symposium 2024.

Follow Cargo Facts’ coverage of Cargo Facts Symposium 2024 on our dedicated page.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

“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.

The carrier has returned four 777Fs to lessor DAE Capital over the past five years but also added two new units in May and June 2023, bringing its fleet back to eleven 777Fs.

Further growth is on the way, with Emirates planning to convert ten 777-300ERs with IAI.

Though 2023 may have been a lackluster year for freighter operators, Emirates is more optimistic about 2024.

“The year has started up very strongly; we’re seeing exceptionally high tonnages for this time of the year for traditional, past years, I would say,” Nadeem Sultan, senior vice president of freighters and cargo planning at Emirates, tells Cargo Facts in this week’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast, recorded at the IATA World Cargo Symposium 2024 in Hong Kong this month. “So, from that perspective, it looks like a promising year for airfreight overall. We think we probably should expect a growth from 1 to 2% overall in the airfreight market this year.”

Emirates’ expansion and development are twofold, involving more than the fleet.

“There’s a lot of aircraft capacity coming in — both passenger as well as freighter — over the coming couple of years,” Sultan said. “But equally, we’re looking at really investing into the future for our air cargo infrastructure in Dubai, in terms of a new air cargo terminal and expanding our current capabilities. And that’s something that’s going to be a key component as well of Emirates SkyCargo’s future growth strategy.”

Tune in to this week’s podcast to hear more on Emirates as Sultan speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee in Hong Kong.

Freighter conversions are not new to Haite Tianjin, but the company plans to increase its activity in the segment.

“This business is a very strategic decision because we need to have a mixture of work and the type of work is important to us,” General Manager Ivan Chin tells Cargo Facts in this week’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast, recorded at the redelivery ceremony in Tianjin.

Haite Tianjin has provided touch labor for IAI’s 737NG conversions since 2019 and has completed thirteen 737-800BDSFs and -700BDSFs to date.

The company last week also broke ground for a third hangar offering three additional narrowbody bays for conversions and other MRO work. The hangar is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.

“[Doing conversions] actually has a lot of this repeatable work that we are looking at,” Chin said. “After the third-phase expansion, that is exactly where we are looking at expansion to cater for the growth, especially in the A320 and A321 cargo conversion market.”

Tune in to this week’s podcast to hear more on Haite as Chin speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee in Tianjin.

The startup airline has agreed to lease two 2006-vintage 737-800SFs from Aircastle as its first freighters. The first of those (34799, ex-SpiceJet) finished receiving its new paint job in Goodyear, Ariz., (GYR) this week.

7Air Cargo expects to start flying proving runs in March and hopes to obtain its AOC in April.

“We’re on track as of today,” Chief Executive Amos Rodriguez says in this week’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast.

7Air is part of Xtreme Holdings and is in discussions with cargo customers. It will not only operate charters but will also move its own freight, Rodriguez said.

With the first two 737-800SFs secured, 7Air is considering adding more 737-800 freighters and is even looking at widebodies.

“As far as the first route, we are concentrating on Central America,” Vice President of Commercial Operations Carlos Cock says. “There’ll be several destinations within Central America.”

Tune in to this week’s podcast to hear more on 7Air Cargo’s plans as Rodriguez and Cock speak with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.

Germany-based Backbone Freighter Leasing is the launch customer of the Kansas Modification Center 777-300ERCF conversion program, with a firm order for three slots and options for seven more.

“It’s a very promising and sensible way to use our feedstock,” Peters says in this week’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast. “And we think that the 777-300ER is the future of the widebody segment.”

The 2008-vintage prototype (37704, ex-Emirates) arrived in Wichita, Kansas, (IAB) in September 2021 and will soon undergo structural modification at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), with which KMC partnered to launch the 777-300ERCF conversion program in September 2020.

“We are convinced that they are the right people working on the product,” Thimm says.

Tune in to hear from Peters and Thimm as they speak with Lee in Amsterdam.

Joining Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee on the podcast are:

• George Seturidze, chief executive of Camex Airlines;
• Michael Hamelink, chief financial officer of Chisholm Enterprises and chief executive of Texel Air;
• Cristian Sutter, chief executive of Avensis Aviation; and
• Or Zak, chief commercial officer for Challenge Group.

Seturidze will join a narrowbody freighter panel on Tuesday, Feb. 6, during the conference. Camex obtained its Georgian AOC in August 2022 and operates a 737-800BCF and a 737-800SF. The company also created a Slovenian offshoot, Camex Adria Airlines, which received its AOC in December.

“I think 2024 will show us a lot of things regarding how the market will be improved for the future,” Seturidze says in this week’s podcast.

Hamelink will also join the Feb. 6 panel discussion. Bahrain-based Texel, which flies two 737-800BCFs, two 737-700FCs and one 737-300F, launched and placed three 737-800BCFs with new subsidiary Texel Air Australasia in 2023.

Wednesday, Feb. 7, will begin with a panel on widebody freighters featuring speakers including Avensis’ Sutter and Challenge Group’s Zak.

Avensis announced its A340 freighter conversion in 2023 with launch customer Universal Sky Courier and is targeting a 2026 certification for this next step in its range of cargo modifications.

Challenge Group operates three airlines based in Malta, Israel and Belgium, and has taken its first of four 767-300BDSF conversions. The group will soon also send the first of four 777-300ERs for conversion with IAI.

“I think if we are looking at the signals at the moment, it seems like the market is stabilizing and hopefully we can see a bit more of what we used to in terms of the seasonality,” Zak tells Cargo Facts.

The 2004-vintage aircraft (33566, ex-Ryanair) arrived in October and has been undergoing certification with the Brazilian Civil Aviation Authority.

“We are in the final process with the regulator, and if everything goes well in the next three to four weeks, we expect to have the final certification by the beginning of February, before Carnival season in Brazil,” Modern Logistics Chief Executive Cristiano Koga says in this week’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast. “This is a very important milestone for us because we expect also the volumes to grow after the summertime vacation, which is taking place now in Brazil [until] the second half of February.”

Modern expects a second -800BCF later this year and plans to operate the two NGs alongside its Classics.

The NGs will focus more on cross-border flights, but Classics can also be used on the short hauls, Koga said. 

“For example, for Uruguay and Argentina, we can fly with the Classics, but the NGS are much more effective for international flights and we’re going to dedicate that fleet primarily to the international routes and the Classics will not only be for domestic, but also charters that we have on a regular basis,” he said.

Koga, who was appointed in May 2023, said Modern has a market share of approximately 27% in Brazil but aims to have a double-digit share in other South American markets.

“We have very ambitious and aggressive plans to go overseas with our new aircraft, and to keep investing in those sectors that we believe value our value proposition,” he said.

Tune in to this week’s podcast to learn more on Modern’s plans as Koga speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company aims to achieve certification in 2025, after which it will be able to operate uncrewed flights carrying commercial cargo using the Cessna 208B.

“Our opinion is that the right way to bring these sorts of systems to market is to follow the process,” co-founder and Chief Executive Robert Rose says in this week’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast.

“And the process is you need to get this through the supplemental type certification work and then you need to modify your airline certificate to be able to use that STC equipment, and that’s what we’re working on. That’s what we’re planning on doing.”

Simply talking about uncrewed operations and actually going ahead with certification are very different things from an organizational, procedural and safety analysis perspective, Rose said.

“It forces some very different conversations that I think are healthy and necessary,” he said. “It also helps us build data for the FAA that they need to better understand what’s involved in operating an aircraft and UAS. Flight tests like this, I think, take it out of the academic realm — and nothing against academics — but it takes it out of the realm of theory.”

The FAA has been good to work with, contrary to a common perception that it is slow and not receptive to new technology such as uncrewed aircraft, Rose said.

“If you talk with people in the FAA, it’s just not true,” he said. “That is just not reflective of the reality; the FAA wants to innovate and people choose that job. They choose that career path because they want to be at the tip of the spear on new technology.”

Tune in to this week’s podcast to learn more about Reliable Robotics’ testing and vision as Rose speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.

At the same time, the company has been exploring other avenues of growing its business.

“We have traditionally always focused on Asia eastbound interline agreements and those agreements and partnerships are still valuable to our success,” Pacific Air Cargo Chief Executive Tanja Janfruechte says in this week’s episode of the “Cargo Facts Connect” podcast.

“But this year, we’re focusing on trying to align with other airlines, not necessarily out of Asia, but Europe and Canada as well. And we’re looking into Mexico — really just trying to see if we can provide some more tail-to-tail options in and out of Hawaii.”

In addition to Kalitta Air’s 747s, Pacific Air Cargo also works with Asia Pacific Airlines and wet leases that carrier’s 757-200Fs. But even with an expanding network, Pacific Air Cargo is unlikely to operate its own freighters, at least for now.

“We’re always open to ideas, but the ACMI model works so well for us that right now, at least in the near future, we’re not looking to move away from that kind of model,” Janfruechte said.

Tune in to this week’s podcast to learn more about Pacific Air Cargo’s plans as Janfruechte speaks with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee. 

Astral’s own-operated and wet-leased freighters fly within, into and out of Africa. The performance of the trade lanes has been mixed this year, Gadhia said.

“The intra-Africa market, I would say, compared to 2022 has actually grown by about 5%,” he said. “But next year, we’re expecting double-digit growth. And we’re very confident about the long-term growth of the intra-Africa market. Having said that, the market to and from Africa has not done very well, unfortunately. Some of the key markets, such as South Africa, have actually experienced overcapacity, which has resulted in lower yields.”

Astral began flying its first 767-200BDSF in early 2021. That aircraft is on lease from CAM, from which Astral also expects to lease its first 767-300F in 2024.

“The 767-300 is a very important part of our strategic fleet expansion,” Gadhia said. “And it will actually enable us to also look at operating into new markets which the 767-200 is not able to.”

Meanwhile, Astral is on track to receive its first E190F conversion in 2024 and is considering 777-300ER freighters.

Tune in to this week’s podcast as Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee talks to Gadhia at the Dubai Airshow.

Ed Wegel, chairman and chief executive of Global Crossing Airlines, will share in a fireside chat the story of certifying a new airline during the pandemic and its cargo ambitions as the first operator of A321 freighters in the Americas.

“We’re very bullish on the narrowbody market and we’ve got a lot of airplanes coming, so we feel pretty good about our position and the future,” Wegel said.

Reliable Robotics’ Chief Business Officer Myles Goeller will present on the latest in the development of alternative aircraft and the implementation of flight automation technology in the cargo segment.

“It is very clear to us that the market that is going to adopt this technology first at real scale is going to be the cargo market, starting with small freighter aircraft but over time taking that same technology to large aircraft that carry the bulk of goods today,” Goeller said.

Meanwhile, Tim Komberec, chairman and CEO of Empire Airlines, will discuss the growing regional freighter market as his company takes on more ATR 72-600Fs and Cessna 408 SkyCouriers from FedEx.

“There’s a lot of what I call trimming going on right now as the market kind of normalizes, but I think on the regional side, what we’re seeing is the demand for our services with our customers still strong,” Komberec said.

Tune in to this week’s podcast as Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee looks ahead at next week’s CFS 2023 with Wegel, Goeller and Komberec.

In 2021, ST set up Juniper Aviation Investments, a joint venture with the Singaporean state-owned investment company Temasek, to focus on developing a freighter leasing portfolio that specializes in narrowbodies.

Juniper has delivered four A321-200Fs and one A320-200F to date, with more in the pipeline. All were converted with EFW, in which ST holds a majority share.

“EFW conversion slots are fully booked until 2026, and that speaks for itself when it comes to demand for this platform,” Tan said. “So, it’s very active and still healthy today. At the modification sites we have, the conversion work is still ongoing nose to tail, so it’s busy out there.”

Juniper provided the prototype aircraft for EFW’s conversion line at the VT San Antonio Aerospace facility and, more recently, the Haite facility in Tianjin, China (TSN), which cut metal last month.

Tune in to this week’s podcast as Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee speaks with Tan on A320 and A321 freighters.

The 1986-vintage 737-300BDSF (23512, ex-Swiftair) that Buffalo purchased in 2022 had been in storage in the U.K. since 2017; it finally arrived in Canada last month after two years of maintenance and overhaul.

Buffalo had to install additional avionics upgrades on the aircraft once it landed in Edmonton (YEG), but the end is in sight. The carrier will soon fly unit 23512 between YEG and Yellowknife (YZF) for its affiliate courier company, Buffalo Air Express.

“I would do it all again. I could do it way more efficiently, but I wouldn’t change anything,” McBryan said. “I had so much fun and that what’s it all about at the end. Any restoration project, home reno, school — anything — it’s never about the graduation. It’s about the whole journey and I’m still in the midst of it so I know I can appreciate it.”

McBryan has hinted at plans to add more 737 Classics.

Tune in to this week’s podcast as Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee discusses these topics and more with McBryan.

The Mexico-based startup is in the certification process and nearing its AOC. It has leased two 2011-vintage A330-200s from Air Lease Corp. and plans to operate them in the Medius Class E cargo configuration from U.K.-based Avensis Aviation ahead of full-freighter conversion.

Awesome Cargo registered its first A330-200 (1218, ex-Alitalia) in Mexico in June. The carrier intends to introduce 737-800 freighters in the months ahead, Ramos said.

Ramos is also CEO of aviation services company Aerocharter, which has been helping freighter airlines transition to Mexico City’s new Felipe Angeles International Airport (NLU) and handles most cargo operations there.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced last week that the FAA will soon restore Mexico to Category 1 status, allowing Mexican carriers to launch new routes to the United States again. Mexico was downgraded to Category 2 in May 2021.

“We’re very thankful for the Mexican government and the [Federal Civil Aviation Agency] for moving as quickly as they have in the midst of everything that’s going on with the FAA and getting back to Category 1,” Ramos said. “We’re very thankful and we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Tune in to this week’s podcast as Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee discusses these topics and more with Ramos.

Boeing continues to diversify its conversion locations, with the Joramco facility in Jordan announcing this week that it will host a conversion line for the 737-800BCF program, joining other upcoming sites like KF Aerospace in Canada and GMR Aero Technic in India.

After redelivering its 100th 737-800BCF last year, Boeing has also hit other milestones on its narrowbody conversion program in 2023, including the twentieth at GAMECO and the seventieth at STAECO.

Meanwhile, Boeing also marked the fifteenth anniversary of its 767-300BCF program this year.

Tune in to this week’s podcast as Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee discusses these topics and more with Weiss, who will speak on a panel covering the freighter conversion market at Cargo Facts Symposium in October.

Avensis most recently launched a full-freighter conversion for the A340 with German startup Universal Sky Carrier, a project that is entering an advanced stage of development, Sutter said.

In the meantime, Avensis has obtained certification for its reversible Class E modification on the A330-200 and -300.

Tune in as Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee speaks with Sutter about these projects and more in this week’s podcast.

Xtreme expanded into the freighter leasing segment when it acquired its first 737-300F in 2022 and has worked with carriers in Latin America, including Colombia-based Aerosucre and Dominican Republic-based Sky High.

The company last year also completed its first PEMCO 737-300F conversion at its facility in Opa-Locka (OPF) and is looking to further develop its freighter conversion capability.

Additionally, Cock told Cargo Facts that Xtreme recently acquired K&J Aviation, a Miami-based engine maintenance company.

“We’ve seen the market necessity for additional engine shops, and it’s just the right fit to everything else that we’re doing now,” Cock said. “So, we went ahead and made this acquisition, and we’re going to be growing the company in the near future.”

Tune in as Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee speaks to Cock about all this and more in this week’s podcast.

Teleport says it already is the largest air logistics network in Southeast Asia but has ambitious plans for further growth with its incoming fleet of freighters.

“This freighter allows us to carry more, do more, and cover more,” Chareonwongsak said in a speech at the ceremony. “It used to take us thirty minutes to load 500 pieces — now it will take us just two minutes. We can carry more: from small things to big things; from dangerous things to live things.

“This freighter will cover more to connect the rest of Southeast Asia better and take Southeast Asia to Asia Pacific,” he said. “This is why the A321 freighter is the best in its class.”

Tune in for a discussion between Chareonwongsak and Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee.

With this week’s news that Western Global is inching closer to bankruptcy Cargo Facts looks at the airline’s fleet in more detail, addressing signs of the potential collapse and what might happen next with the Western Global fleet. 

Meanwhile, the UPS Teamsters union issued its demands for a last-and-best offer from the Louisville, Ky.-based logistics giant. As a strike looms, what are the possible ramifications for the industry? Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee and Associate Editor Andrew Crider discuss. 

Tune in for a podcast discussion of these topics and more for the week ending June 30, 2023.

At the show, Embraer also unveiled plans to begin conversions for its E-Jet family in China, a significant step for the new program.

Tune in for a discussion by Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee, Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke and Associate Editor Andrew Crider of these topics and more for the week ending June 23, 2023.

Cebu Pacific has reactivated 50% of its freighter fleet, sending one of its two ATR 72-500Fs to an MRO in Vietnam for C check after being out of service for over a year. Also, a former Cebu Pacific aircraft is undergoing conversion and is destined to join Mexico-based Mas. That A330-300P2F is among the youngest to be converted and brings improved capabilities to the market. More young aircraft are entering the conversion pipeline.

Luke also shares an update on Denver-based Crestone Air Partners. 

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending June 16, 2023.

This week marked EFW’s fiftieth redelivery of its latest generation of Airbus conversions with an A330-300P2F for DHL Express. EFW has redelivered seventeen A330-300P2Fs, nine A330-200P2Fs and twenty-four A321-200P2Fs and A320-200P2Fs, the STC holder confirmed to Cargo Facts.

ULS Airlines Cargo in Turkey made the decision to add 737-800BCFs, notable given the airline’s previous interest to add A321s. The acquisition is a sign that 737-800 freighters are more readily available.

Lastly, FedEx and UPS continue to send MD-11Fs to Victorville for storage or retirement, marking the impending end of an era for the three-engined aircraft among legacy carriers.

The editors end by looking ahead to the second half of 2023.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending June 9, 2023.

Natilus recently announced a deal with ZeroAvia and unveiled a hydrogen-powered engine option for its blended-wing cargo drone. This development comes after headline-making orders from Ameriflight and Volatus Aerospace.

Matyushev addresses the challenges of drone production, what recent scale-model test flights have taught Natilus and how the company is growing.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending May 26, 2023.

Cargo Facts made its debut in Latin America with groundbreaking news, developments and insight from industry leaders in the region.

At the event, Lee and Luke caught up with SmartLynx Airlines Vice President of Sales & Development Edvinas Demenius to talk about the airline’s strategy and plans for its A321 freighters.

Meanwhile, during the panel discussions, stakeholders heard from executives such as Mas Chief Executive Luis Sierra, who expanded on the carrier’s e-commerce strategy, and Cargo Three Interlines Director Rodrigo De Narvaez, who took attendees inside the executive boardroom and shared details on the airline’s decision to acquire ex-FedEx MD-10-30Fs.

LATAM Cargo Chief Executive Andres Bianchi joined the event for a fireside chat and provided a glimpse into how the airline established its presence in the region and what the future holds for Latin America’s largest cargo operator.

Tune in for a recap of the inaugural LATAM event and more for the week ending May 19, 2023.

Cargo drones dominated the news this week, with Canada-based Volatus Aerospace evaluating whether it will order more Natilus drone and announcing plans to expand its cargo drone operations into the Dominican Republic and the United Arab Emirates.

In the conventional air freighter sector, Boeing received its first order of the year for its 777F last month from an unidentified customer; Canadian North flew its final 737-200C flight earlier this month; and Nexus Aviation acquired the first of two A321-200s the lessor will convert to freighters.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending May 12, 2023.

First, Japan Airlines will operate its own freighters again after a hiatus of more than ten years as part of a groupwide growth strategy.

Meanwhile, China Airlines is continuing to retire its production 747-400Fs even as it experiences delays in receiving new 777F orders; Cargo Three is adding ex-FedEx MD-10Fs; and Airbus has delayed entry into service of the A350F into 2026.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending May 5, 2023.

In North America, Reliable Robotics submitted data gathered with NASA to validate the reliability of existing radar systems in ensuring the safe separation of unmanned and manned aircraft. The data promises to help regulators in the United States develop methods to integrate drones into the airspace.

In Brazil, Speedbird signed a partnership with Israel-based High Lander for the traffic management of its drones. The partnership will allow Speedbird to certify two of its drone types while prepping the company for expansion outside of Brazil.

Meanwhile, new operators continue to emerge with the A321F platform. Malaysia-based Raya Airways recently took its first, while a new carrier in Brazil intends to fly the type. BBAM signaled it would take up to ten A321Fs by yearend, and Global Crossing also specified the latest delivery timeline for its A321Fs.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending April 28, 2023.

Ochovo shares his thoughts on Cargo Facts Consulting’s latest freighter forecast, which he unveiled during the event. The group compares that report with statements made by panelists at Cargo Facts Asia on the potential of a surplus of freighters.

Lee, Crider, Ochovo and Edgar also look back at the sentiments and perspectives of executives on the 737-800F and A321-200F platforms.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending April 21, 2023.

Cock will speak during a panel on narrowbody freighters at the upcoming Cargo Facts LATAM conference. The first-of-its-kind event will bring cargo leaders in the region to Panama City on May 15-17.

Lee and Crider also speculate about the recent mystery order for four A350Fs.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending April 14, 2023.

Meanwhile, Airbus has begun the production of the first A350F, manufacturing the first center wingbox of the next-generation widebody freighter.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending April 7, 2023.

Additionally, AAR signaled a continued interest in 757-200 conversions, acquiring nine ex-American Airlines units. The company already has sold one of those aircraft to AerSale.

Finally, Russia-based Volga-Dnepr Group has seemingly found an alternative to the western widebody freighters it operated, investing in the Il-96-400T. Recent imagery shows a 2003-vintage airframe recently adorned in the colors of the group’s subsidiary, AirBridgeCargo.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending March 31, 2023.

Also, a talk on the possibility of UPS acquiring more 747-8Fs, as the carrier hinted last year at a change to its original plans to preserve its 747-8 fleet without new additions. But what will be the source of the 747-8Fs?

Meanwhile, on the unmanned systems’ front, Bell’s APT drone was involved in a crash during testing. No victims were reported, and the crash remains under investigation.

Tune in for a discussion with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee and Associate Editors Andrew Crider and Robert Luke of these topics and more for the week ending March 24, 2023.

In addition to manned aircraft news in Asia and Europe, San Francisco-based Zipline has launched its P2 delivery system, including a new drone and charging station that functions with a detachable droid.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ending March 17, 2023.

Luke and Lee also talk about Cargojet selling two of its 777-300ERs, ANA acquiring NCA, and Canadian North adding two ATR-72 500Fs to its fleet for Arctic operations.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ended March 10, 2023.

Luke provides a breakdown of recent earnings calls. Companies in the freighter industry reported drops in revenue without drops in optimism as the markets adjust to the new normal.

Finally, Lee shares news about A321F conversions, with an additional site coming online at Sichuan Airlines’ own MRO and SmartLynx securing a new ACMI customer.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ended March 3, 2023.

And as another A330 arrived in Dresden for conversion with EFW, the company announced that it will open a second A321 conversion location in China. Meanwhile, Qantas will add more A321 conversions, and SmartLynx earned approval from the Australian government, which prompted a discussion on Asia-Pacific market developments as a whole. This week also saw the launch of a new airline in South Africa.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ended Feb. 24, 2023.

On the manned aircraft front, the team looks at Awesome Cargo, which received its first A330 for the start of operations, and Mesa Airlines, which will soon begin flying its first DHL 737-800F.

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more for the week ended Feb. 17, 2023.

The trio provide an impartial outlook of the current market, including feedback from industry leaders who attended the conference In addition there is a discussion of Zero Petroleum's new synthetic aviation fuel and the impact it could have on the industry.

Tune in to hear about these topics and more for the week ended Feb. 10, 2023.

For a cargo carrier like U.S.-based Kalitta Air, which specializes in ACMI and charter operations, the COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing capacity crunch has resulted in extremely high fleet utilization, as shippers and forwarders have turned to freighter operators for help in flying their freight.

Of course, one factor working in Kalitta’s favor is its large freighter fleet. In addition to nine 767-300BDSFs and three 777Fs, the carrier has ten 747-400BCFs and fourteen production 747-400Fs, adding some sorely needed capacity to the market, even if not all are available for charters.

While the majority of CAM’s 767F portfolio is currently deployed to carriers based in, or operating in the United States, CAM and its parent ATSG see opportunities outside of the United States for 767F flying. The path to placing more 767Fs on international AOC’s may mean additional investments in global companies.   

In terms of market reach, “We do look to, to broaden ourselves out,” said Mike Berger, chief commercial officer of ATSG.  Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia offer potential for expanded medium widebody freighter operations, he added.  

CAM already dry leases aircraft to customers based in Southeast Asia, and to Europe through its affiliate ATSG West Leasing.  

Recognizing the company’s current North American focus, “We're very interested in furthering our scope outside the U.S., said Berger. “We look forward to that not only in 2020, but the next coming years.”  

To hear more from Berger, download and listen to this podcast. This Cargo Facts Connect episode is an excerpt from an interview recorded on site at Cargo Facts EMEA earlier this month in Frankfurt. Mike Berger, Chief Commercial Officer of ATSG offers a look at global opportunities for the 767F.

In this inaugural episode of Cargo Facts Connect, we sit down with Bob Convey, SVP Sales & Marketing, AEI to discuss some of the key factors that drive program development, and considerations for timing the launch of a new program.