Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC
The United Parcel Service (UPS) contract to purchase up to 90 additional Airbus Industrie A300-600 freighters has a clause allowing the package delivery carrier to substitute A380s or other aircraft over the period of the 12 year deal.
The $6 billion firm order for 60 freighters will keep the Toulouse A300-600 production line active until at least May 2009 and, if UPS exercises options for a further 50 aircraft, this will extend to 2012. The new deal is in addition to 30 A300-600Fs ordered in 1998 and supersedes UPS' earlier options on 30 aircraft. Deliveries of the new aircraft commence in February 2003.
Given the longevity of the deal, UPS says the contract provides it with an option "to substitute new technology or swap to other aircraft types". Airbus in the past has looked at a range of avionics and powerplant enhancements to modernise the A300/310, but these appear to have been eclipsed by as yet unsuccessful efforts to launch the proposed A330-500 as a successor.
The UPS deal also includes the "possibility" of substituting the much larger A380F for the A300-600, though the package delivery company cautions that this does not constitute part of "today's plan". Observers suggest this could change as a consequence of UPS' chief rival FedEx deciding to launch the A380 F.
A final decision on the choice of engines for the A300-600is expected shortly, with the Pratt & Whitney PW4158 and General Electric CF6-80C2 in contention. The deal would include an after-sales fleet management contract. UPS' initial consignment of A300-600s, of which seven are now in service, are PW4158 powered.
The 50t capacity freighter will be mainly employed by UPS to expand its inter-regional operations in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, freeing larger freighters for intercontinental flights from the USA.
The company recently concluded a deal with Boeing to take 13 converted MD-11 freighters from late this year. These will be employed on long-haul routes to Europe and Asia,
UPS says initial planning has called for the additional aircraft to augment rather than replace its present fleet in order for it to cater for growth in demand - outbound international freight from the USA climbed by 23% in the third quarter of last year. The Louisville-based carrier currently has a fleet of 238aircraft, including Boeing 727s, 747s, 757s, 767s and Douglas DC-8s.
A day after announcing its largest aircraft order ever, UPS unveiled plans to purchase US freight forwarder Fritz for $450 million. The deal, the first such acquisition of a freight forwarder by a carrier, is of strategic importance to the company as it will secure a potentially large new feed of freight and a larger customs broker.
Further good news for UPS has come in the shape of US Department of Transportation confirmation that it has been selected as the fourth US carrier to serve China, after prolonged debate and much lobbying on the part of the air transport industry. UPS has been granted six weekly round trip flights for all cargo services from Ontario, California and Newark via Anchorage to Beijing and Shanghai from April.
China in 1999 agreed to 10additional frequencies for US carriers, of which two have been allocated to United Airlines and one a-piece to its fellow incumbents Northwest Airlines and FedEx.
Source: Flight International
