Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
Fine Air Services, the parent of Miami-based Fine Air, has revealed plans to acquire rival US cargo airline Southern Air Transport (SAT).
Privately owned SAT, based in Columbus, Ohio, has been on the market for several months, with 747 freighter lessor Atlas Air previously tipped as favourite to buy it.
Fine Air, which completed a $200 million private placement in June to fund expansion, says it expects the acquisition to close within 90 days after regulatory approvals and conditions are met. The holding company intends to maintain SAT as a wholly owned subsidiary in Columbus.
Wet-lessor SAT now operates a fleet of five Boeing 747-200 freighters and has been in the process of acquiring three more 747-200Fs from Cargolux. The airline has already begun disposing of its fleet of 15 Lockheed L-100 Hercules freighters, and most of the rest of the fleet is in storage (Flight International, 15-21 July).
Miami-based Fine Air operates scheduled and charter cargo flights to the Caribbean and Latin America with its fleet of 14 McDonnell Douglas DC-8 freighters and a single Lockheed L-1011 TriStar freighter.
Barry Fine, Fine Air's president and chief executive, says the acquisition of SAT's widebody freighter fleet widens his airline's appeal to a broader range of customers.
The 747Fs will be used to expand operations to the southernmost countries of South America and to expand the airline's higher volume cargo routes.
Source: Flight International
