British registered freight airline CargoLogicAir, a member of the Russian Volga-Dnepr Group, upped its capacity by nearly 30 percent when getting its 3rd Boeing 747 all-cargo aircraft. The 747-400F adds to the existing fleet operated by the Stansted-based carrier consisting of a B747-400F and its larger sister model B747-8F.
The new all-cargo aircraft comes from Dublin-headquartered lessor AerCap who considers themselves as being the global market leader in aircraft leasing with US$42 bn of assets, following the
takeover of competitor ILFC in 2014.
Thanks to the additional freighter, CargoLogicAir’s expansion continues although predominantly as charter operator, complementing the line-haul activities of sister airline AirBridgeCargo.
Focusing on charter services constitutes a major strategic shift compared to earlier announcements made by the management about a year ago, when they said they would concentrate on building an
intercontinental route network, covering markets in Africa and some niches not served by ABC.
It is now known that this strategy turned out to be a failure, as the carrier’s withdrawal from African routes has illustrated.
Confusing adumbrations
Yet again, in his welcoming address upon the arrival of the third freighter in Stansted, CargoLogicAir’s helmsman Dmitry Grishin spoke again of “new routes” that could be developed thanks to the
additional capacity gained through the new B47-4F. This is surprising since a company release states that the latest aircraft will “enable CLA to satisfy growing demand on global charters and
support its ACMI flying program for partner, AirBridgeCargo.” Confusing messages, indeed. Future operations will show how the freight carrier will predominantly utilize the B47-4F.
New appointments
In the meantime, the airline has announced two further personnel decisions, this way strengthening the executive team. New on board is John Nicholas as Technical Director who started his carreer
in 1982 as an Aeronautical Airframe/Engine Technician with British Airways. John will be is responsible for all technical matters relating to the airline’s Boeing 747 freighter fleet and air
safety program.
Simultaneously, David Bowden has been appointed CargoLogicAir’s new Chief Financial Officer. David previously held the post of Chief Financial Officer at Fiji Airways Group. During his tenure, he
was also Acting CEO of the airline between June-October 2015.
Heiner Siegmund