Atlas Air pushes into Asia Pacific with second 747 Nippon Cargo CMI deal

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings announced today that its Atlas Air unit has entered into a CMI agreement to operate a second 747-400 freighter for Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA), with an option for additional aircraft in the future. Service is scheduled to begin in September 2017.

As was the case with the first 747-400 freighter agreement, the aircraft came from Nippon Cargo’s fleet, with Atlas Air providing the crew, maintenance and insurance.

“This follows the successful start of the first aircraft for NCA earlier this year and underscores our focus on the fast-growing Asia Pacific market,” said William J. Flynn, president and CEO, Atlas Air Worldwide.

This aircraft will be flown on key routes across the transpacific connecting Asia and the U.S. Flynn told the media earlier this month that the Asia Pacific market was a strategic focus of the company, and he noted that the carrier has pivoted over the last decade to capture market share.

Cargo Facts noted that the shift to e-commerce will continue to push more cargo onto airplanes, and Atlas says that it is well placed to take advantage of this shift, as 70 percent of its current freighters operate for customers in the e-commerce and express markets – a percentage that will increase “as we ramp up from six aircraft for Amazon currently to an expected 20 by the end of 2018.”

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