Singapore-based cargo carrier Jett8 Airlines Cargo has decided to it will no longer add more Boeing 747-200 freighters and instead will add 747-400Fs.
Chairman and CEO Louis Tan says the airline has two 747-200Fs that it operates to Shanghai Pudong and to three destinations in India – Chennai, Madras and Mumbai.
But he says the airline has decided against adding more -200Fs because high fuel prices have made this older aircraft model more expensive to operate.
It made this decision even though it earlier planned to have a total of five -200Fs by March of this year, he adds.
Jett8 launched operations last year using one -200F it bought from Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) and it was planning to source all five of its aircraft from the Japanese cargo airline.
Tan says in October Jett8 will lease out one of its -200s and the second -200 will be used to supplement present routes.
The carrier also has one 747-400 leased from Chinese carrier Jade Cargo International and it uses this newer aircraft for services to Amsterdam, Bangalore, Chennai, Hong Kong and Malmo in Sweden, says Tan.
In October the airline plans to take delivery of a new 747-400F on lease from an undisclosed company and “we are hoping to have one or two more come in the second quarter of next year”, he adds.
Tan declines to disclose what new services the airline will be launching later this year.
“We have some plans but it is not firmed up yet,” he says, adding that “we will make an announcement in October” and launch some of the new services in November.
Next year the airline hopes to fulfil its ambition of launching services from Singapore to the USA using fifth freedom rights via Japan.
“The problem is getting the right slots” at Japanese airports, says Tan.
Jett8 also wants to launch services to the USA via China but the problem it faces is there are no fifth freedom rights via the Chinese cities that Jett8 is interested in, he says.
Singapore Airlines Cargo operates to the USA via Nanjing but Tan says there are no fifth freedoms via the larger Chinese cities of Beijing, Guangzhou or Shanghai.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: Flight International
