Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) and Atlas Air Worldwide have extended their Boeing 747 freighter partnership covering flights on the transpacific.
The Air Transportation Services Agreement (ATSA) agreement sees Atlas Air operate five 747-400F on a crew, maintenance and insurance (CMI) basis for NCA.
“The extension of the current ATSA with transpacific operation between Asia and North America will boost international air cargo growth, including capital equipment for semiconductor and e-commerce needs while meeting diverse customer transportation demands,” the partners said.
“We value our strategic, long-standing partnership with NCA,” said Michael Steen, chief executive, Atlas Air Worldwide. “We are building on a strong, trusted relationship, established more than seven years ago, and are fully committed to continuing to contribute to the growing success.”
Hiroyuki Homma, president and chief executive, NCA, added: “We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration and leveraging the distinctive features of the Boeing 747 freighter to provide high-quality services prioritizing safety, ensuring continued trust from our customers.”
The partnership had initially covered two of NCA’s 747-400s but in 2019 a further three of the models were added when the Japanese freighter operator decided to move to a dedicated fleet of 747-8F aircraft after some maintenance issues related to its -400s.
NCA currently operates a fleet of eight 747-8Fs and is in the process of being taken over by All Nippon Airways from its current owner NYK.
However, the deal has been delayed several times and is now expected to be completed in July.
