JACKSON FLORES / RIO DE JANEIRO
New airline to start services with DC-8s while Lan Cargo prepares for business surge
The South American cargo market is experiencing significant growth, with a new Brazilian carrier launching services and established carrier Lan Cargo adding Boeing 747 capacity.
The newcomer, São Paulo-based Promodal Transportes Aéreos, received its operating permit late last month. It will operate scheduled and non-scheduled services in the domestic and international markets. The airline has taken delivery of two McDonnell Douglas DC-8-71Fs and is scheduled to receive a DC-8-61 in mid-February. Initial services are being flown between São Paulo and Manaus, with a São Paulo-Recife flight starting this month to be followed by a twice-weekly service between Manaus and Dallas on behalf of Nokia.
A subsidiary of the Brazilian Grupo GPT, Promodal Transportes Aéreos intends to start services to Europe this year. Antonio Augusto Morato Leite, chief executive of Grupo GPT, says the launch comes after "a two-year battle to get it off the ground".
Promodal expects to earn around 100 million reals ($35 million) during 2004 - nearly a third of Grupo GPT's revenue forecast for the year. The group already has a non-scheduled cargo airline, TCB (Transportes Charter do Brasil), which operates a DC-8-50. This is expected to have a revenue of 50 million reals this year.
Meanwhile, LanChile's air freight division Lan Cargo is preparing for a surge in business with the lease of two 747-200Fs from Atlas Air to enable it to boost services to the USA. A third 747-200F will be taken to cover the Chilean summer season. US-bound cargo flights from Chile are responsible for around 57% of Lan Cargo's operations.
It is not all good news for South American cargo carriers, however. Year-old Belo Horizonte-based Brasmex Cargo Airlines recently ceased operations due to financial difficulties, and returned its single McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F to lessor CIT Aerospace.
Source: Flight International
