Airline has this week taken delivery of the first of eight Boeing 767-300ER freighters as it prepares to relaunch its own dedicated all-cargo operations.
Air Canada Cargo has this week taken delivery of the first of eight Boeing 767-300ER freighters as it prepares to relaunch its own dedicated all-cargo operations.
Its first converted Boeing 767-300ER freighter was due to touch down in Canada earlier this week, “marking the start of a new chapter for Air Canada Cargo”, the carrier said.
Janet Wallace, senior director for cargo transformation at Air Canada, confirmed that the freighters will fly primarily out of Toronto Pearson International Airport, and will operate on routes linking Toronto to Miami, Quito, Lima, Mexico City and Guadalajara – “the first time Air Canada Cargo will serve this destination”. Additional destinations to be served in early 2022 include Halifax, St. John’s, Madrid and Frankfurt, as more freighters enter service.
Air Canada originally announced the new routes in June and said it was “in the process of fully converting several of its Boeing 767 aircraft into dedicated freighters in order to fully participate in global cargo commercial opportunities”. That process has involved converting certain of its Boeing 767s that have been retired from its passenger fleet into fully dedicated freighters. Air Canada Cargo said it planned to have two freighters in service by the end of 2021, with more to join the fleet in 2022.
Jason Berry, vice president for cargo at Air Canada, said: “These freighters will provide long-term stability and growth for our cargo customers, in particular the freight forwarding community who require reliable air freight capacity year-round. They will allow us to continue building on the success of our cargo-only flights and are an important part of our future growth. I am excited to have these aircraft enter service, a milestone for Air Canada Cargo that also opens up a world of opportunities for us and our customers.”
The airline said the addition of dedicated freighter aircraft to Air Canada’s fleet “will allow Air Canada Cargo to provide consistent capacity on key air cargo routes, which will facilitate the movement of goods globally. With these freighters, Air Canada Cargo will enhance its capabilities to transport goods such as automotive and aerospace parts, oil and gas equipment, pharmaceuticals, perishables, as well as handling the growing demand for fast, reliable shipment of e-commerce goods.”
Last year, Air Canada concluded a collective agreement amendment with its pilots represented by the Air Canada Pilots Association for contractual changes “to enable Air Canada to competitively operate dedicated cargo aircraft in the cargo marketplace”.
Since March 2020, Air Canada has operated thousands of all-cargo ‘passenger freighter’ or ‘preighter’ flights using its wide-body passenger aircraft as well as certain temporarily modified Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft, which have additional available cargo space due to the removal of seats from the passenger cabin.
The Canadian airline has had an on-off relationship with freighters over the years, withdrawing from the freighter market in 1994 before later resuming selected and limited freighter operations at various stages – most recently in 2016 launching a partnership with Cargojet to operate dedicated freighter services from Canada to Latin America and Europe with Boeing 767-300ER freighter aircraft operated by Cargojet.
Source: Lloyd’s
