As new freighters are added to its fleet, Air Canada (AC) continues to grow its network and has expanded its service offerings to include horse traffic.
The third 767 freighter that AC Cargo is receiving this week will go into operation in two to three weeks, and the fourth should show up before the end of the year.
With flights to Atlanta, Dallas, and Bogota, the first of the two new aircraft will be utilized to expand AC’s Americas network. The carrier’s first two cargo planes will initially be covered by the second while
According to AC Cargo VP Jason Berry, the airline is not yet prepared to reveal which routes it will operate once that period in the spring is gone.
Since the arrival of the airline’s first converted 767 freighter about a year ago, the network of freighters has expanded quickly. The most recent growth occurred at the beginning of October when all-cargo flights from St. John’s to Frankfurt and Madrid were introduced.
However, revenue growth reversed in the third quarter, when it fell 23% year over year. This was mostly due to a combination of a decrease in AC’s transpacific capacity and falling yields in that market.
When those aircraft were put back into passenger service in the summer, the airline’s aggressive use of 777s as cabin and belly freighters on important trunk routes to China and Hong Kong came to a stop.
In the third quarter, AC’s cargo revenue in the transpacific market fell 58% year over year, while transatlantic revenue increased 14%.
According to Mr. Berry, “October was a pretty excellent story across the network.” In most markets, “We’re increasing our market share.”
The fact that the freighters are not operating in the transpacific market, where yields have drastically decreased, is advantageous. The cargo planes, which are re-deployed to sunny locations during the winter, compensate for the significant seasonal decline in bellyhold capacity in the transatlantic sector, according to Mr. Berry.
By next summer, management hopes to increase AC’s network to 90%-95% of its pre-Covid footprint. Currently, it has climbed back to around 80%-85% of that level. It will begin passenger service to Bangkok in December, and service to more international widebody destinations, including Brussels, Copenhagen, and Toulouse, will begin in the summer of 2023.
The airline will begin operations in Asia with service to Tokyo Haneda and Osaka, but there have been no announcements on the expansion of China flights in the near future.
The majority of the 787 fleet will be used to fill the schedule extension, with some A330 capacity added for flights to Europe.
By the end of the next year, AC will have seven 767 cargo aircraft in its fleet. With the delivery of two 777 freight planes in 2024, it will grow even more.
Due to freighters, AC Cargo is once again able to transport horses. When the carrier switched from running 747 combi aircraft and leased freighters to operating solely belly cargo aircraft, this practice ceased to be a regular aspect of the carrier’s operations.
The company has acquired specifically made stables that can hold up to three horses per unit and is currently renovating its animal facility at the Toronto center.
Although management is also focusing on shipping horses to the US, Latin America, and Europe, Mr. Berry stated that AC’s home market is a significant origin and destination area for this traffic.
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