My two pennies worth again, Shot One. I can't help feeling that many are missing the point...BA doesn't have any freighters. Ok so they could procure some; even if they did, look at the scenarios;
-get hold of some 2nd hand ones. LH have a whole bunch of mothballed 747-200F. All replaced with new MD11F. I believe LH parked them because they were no longer profitable to operate (fuel consumption & spiralling maintenance costs).
-buy new ones. let's say half a dozen to start with. Cost no object. Order them today; delivery...12 months? So, 12 months later, they're sitting on the ramp waiting to be filled. How do you fill them without an established reputation (BA's pax reputation doesn't count), and an established market (need a reputation for that). Catch22.
The likes of Atlas enable a carrier to: establish themselves/increase market share/try new destinations without a vast capital outlay.
And I still maintain that the MAJORITY of UK cargo is trucked out of the UK, to fly on scheduled freight carriers from within the EU, as I mentioned in an earlier post.
UK's loss, our gain.Thank you very much for your business.
And before everyone starts shouting about established UK freight carriers (lets say AFX & Channel Express), 1 -200F and a couple of A300s are not going to satisfy the market.
I repeat that I'm not "pro-Atlas"; I don't even work for them. They do, however, have their uses.
My humble opinions.
rgds Rat