Musical Chairs Over Pacific
Oz Starts As Kiwi Stops
For a sector that long seemed a haven of stability and strong yields, the US-Australia/New Zealand market is uncharacteristically lively at the moment.
On the heels of one freighter operator joining the game, one of the incumbents is scrapping its freighter lease, only for another player to field a freighter on the suspended route.
Air New Zealand is going to return a B747-400F aircraft leased from Atlas Air, a step that marks the end of the airline's round-the-world freighter operation from its home base via Europe to the U.S. and back to New Zealand. This eliminates two B747-400F flights a week from the U.S. to the South Pacific.
According to some observers, the carrier had tried unsuccessfully to obtain more advantageous leasing rates in light of a weakening market and decided to pull the plug on the operation when Atlas stood firm. Air New Zealand confirmed that the lease would be terminated at the end of March, leading to the suspension of the transpacific freighter service, but declined to discuss any details. It indicated that management is looking for alternative options for a U.S.-New Zealand freighter.
The gap left by the Kiwi carrier's withdrawal will be short-lived. "We are about to commence a twice weekly B747-400F freighter service between the U.S. and New Zealand. This new service will provide mid-week and weekend capacity from the U.S. to New Zealand and from New Zealand into Australia," announced Stephen Cleary, group general manager of Qantas Freight.
So far, Qantas has supplemented its 43 weekly passenger flights between the U.S. and its home market with three weekly 747 freighters to Sydney and one to Melbourne. Those freighters reach the U.S. market via Shanghai, where Qantas has built up a hub operation for both passenger and cargo flights. On the transpacific sector the airline's bellyhold capacity changed slightly in the fourth quarter, when it introduced A380 aircraft.
Air New Zealand's decision to suspend the U.S.-New Zealand freighter run reflects the recent deterioration of the U.S.-South Pacific market, which had long seemed impervious to chronic weakness of U.S. exports.