Air Macau has signed a contract with US carrier Tradewinds Airlines to wet-lease two Airbus A300B4 freighters for scheduled all-cargo services to eastern Chinese cities.
An industry source says Air Macau signed a one-year ACMI contract with Tradewinds for the two A300B4s earlier this month. The aircraft are due to be delivered in mid-April.
Air Macau will use the A300B4s to launch cargo services linking Macau with three cities in eastern China: Shanghai, Xiamen and Nanjing. The aircraft will also be used between Macau and Taipei.
Air Macau now has a 12-times-a-week Shenzhen-Macau-Taipei service using a Boeing 727-200 freighter on wet-lease from Malaysian cargo airline Transmile Air Service. But Air Macau has traffic rights to operate 25 all-cargo flights a week to mainland China, with a choice of 32 destinations.
Last year, Air Macau was talking to Transmile about wet-leasing additional 727-200Fs for China services. But it then opted for A300B4s following a recommendation from the airline's adviser, GCW Consulting.
LEITHEN FRANCIS / SINGAPORE
Source: Flight International
