Concrete steps towards full-freighter capacities
Air Transport Services Group's subsidiary Cargo Aircraft Management has agreed to purchase two B767-300ER from Air Canada, convert them from passenger to freighter configuration, and lease them back to Air Canada.
This is the first sale-leaseback agreement between the US and the Canadian companies. The first aircraft will be inducted for conversion in March 2021. Both are expected to be redelivered to Air Canada by the end of 2021.
In November 2020, Air Canada announced the next steps in its strategic plan to use converted freighters to grow its cargo business across the global supply chain in response to evolving opportunities in the air freight market. Jason Berry, VP of cargo: "We are excited to be in a position to capture the market opportunities that currently present themselves." (ah)