STUART TODD / PARIS
Italian-based freight airline start-up Cargoitalia is this week due to launch flights from its Milan Malpensa base to Chennai and Delhi in India using a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 freighter.
The Indian route will be operated twice-weekly and the aircraft will also fly three weekly frequencies to New York and Chicago.
“Our second aircraft, a Boeing MD-11, is expected mid-May and with its arrival we will be adding other destinations on the same routes,” says Cargoitalia sales vice-president Europe, Middle East and Asia, Massimo Roccasecca.
The fleet will rise to four aircraft by November, using a mix of finance and wet leases and direct ownership.
The carrier’s founder and chief executive, Massimo Panagia, is a former managing director of Alitalia Cargo, and the company’s major shareholder is Air Logistic Holding, which is part of Syntek Capital, a private equity company.
Source: Flight International
