Given that air freight is growing at a much higher rate than passenger movements, when will Qantas finally decide to add a freighter arm?
Most of the large American Freight operators have a strong market (with very significant revenue) for freight from Asia to America with very little in the return direction. Qantas is able to lease the "back load" capability of these aircraft (US - OZ - Asia) at a rate that is significantly cheaper than operating its own dedicated freighter aircraft. It's sad that this part of the operation is outsourced but the economics are very clear. The freight arm of Qantas (Qantas Freight) has been experiencing a very high growth rate but unfortunately it doesn't mean growth in pilot numbers. GB