ANA is studying the possibility of adding freighters to serve the transpac market."We're extremely interested in flying directly into China. It's time to open up for another carrier on the cargo side." UPS spokesman, John Flick.
Airlines are boosting capacity across the Pacific, including new or additional freighter operations to the US.
The biggest expansion is expected in the US-China lane, where a number of carriers have introduced cargo flights in recent months, and more are eager to follow.
The latest entrant into that market is China Southern, which has signed a lease agreement with Atlas Air for a 747 freighter. That plane will be used to launch three weekly flights between Shenzhen and Chicago, with tech stops in Anchorage in both directions.
The service, set to commence on March 29, is the carrier's first foray into international freighter operations, following the addition of a fourth 777 passenger flight between Guangzhou and Los Angeles last December.
China Eastern introduced a weekly MD-11F service to Los Angeles in December and intends to add a second weekly flight later this year, according to Shirley Cao, cargo manager for the US Midwest. The airline also wants to add a third weekly MD-11F run on the Shanghai-Seattle-Chicago route, she added.
An increase in passenger flights to San Francisco from currently two to three a week is envisaged for after this year as well.
More freighter capacity is to enter the market courtesy of Air China, which is converting another 747-200 aircraft into all-cargo configuration. But the US carriers have been more aggressive in pushing for China rights, following the bilateral agreement signed by the two countries last spring.
Last autumn Northwest launched twice-weekly freighter flights to Shanghai and two passenger flights, and FedEx started four freighter flights a week to Shenzhen. NW is to add another two passenger frequencies in April, and FedEx will add another two cargo flights. In addition, United Airlines plans to start a passenger service that month.
Meanwhile, another group of US carriers has applied for traffic rights next year, when another 10 weekly frequencies will become available and another US airline will be designated by the US DOT. American and Delta want to introduce passenger flights, while UPS and Polar have asked for freighter rights.
"We're extremely interested in flying directly into China. Right now all our traffic goes into Hong Kong and then by common carriage into China. It's time to open up for another carrier on the cargo side," UPS spokesman, John Flick, said.
The integrator wants to operate six 747 flights a week from its west coast hub in Ontario, California via Anchorage to Beijing and Shanghai, plus another four 747 freighters a week from New York over Anchorage to Shanghai and on to Tokyo. Polar wants traffic rights for six weekly flights, said Kevin Montgomery, director of government relations.
The airline, whose meteoric rise suffered a setback in 1998, is back on expansion course. It has ordered five 747-400 freighters, of which three are due for delivery later this year. In addition, management is negotiating the acquisition of some passenger 747-200s, which will be converted into freighters.
Those should be ready in the second half of the year, Polar CEO, Lou Valerio, said. He also wants to expand Polar's reach through alliances with carriers from Europe, Asia and Latin America and indicated that announcements about such partnerships will be made in the coming months.
Carrier executives are bullish about the China market, citing strong growth in eastbound traffic. Moreover, they anticipate further strong growth as a result of China's decision to join the WTO. This is one of the main reasons for China Southern to get into freighter operations, according to Liang Su, international air cargo project manager.
Japanese carriers are also going to boost freighter capacity. Nippon Cargo added a 747 freighter last autumn, and JAL will get its tenth 747F this year. This plane will be used chiefly in the Pacific arena, while JAL wants to grow its Asia-Europe and intra-Asian business through partnerships with other carriers, director of administration and marketing, freight sales, Tomoyasu Fukuyama, said. Meanwhile, ANA is studying the possibility of introducing combi or freighter aircraft into its fleet, assistant manager for international cargo marketing, Sadami Sugimoto, said.
KAL has also ordered a number of new aircraft, including two 747-400Fs due for delivery this year, but the planes will chiefly replace older aircraft.
KAL is under a one-year ban on international expansion, following the report of the US NTSB on the crash of a KAL passenger jet in Guam in August 1997, which concluded that human error had been the main factor in the incident. The Korean government has indicated that KAL could face even stiffer restrictions if it is to blame for the crash of its 747 freighter in the UK last December.
Much of the trans-pacific expansion is driven by strong demand for space out of Asia to the US, but carriers have also noted an improvement in westbound traffic. A year ago they were struggling to fill their Asia-bound flights, but now demand is up considerably. Cao said China Southern can't accommodate all the cargo it gets in the US Midwest.