UK Cargo Airlines?
 

Hi all,

This is a very simple question but I am dying to find an answer as I cant get my head around it. Why are there so few cargo airlines based in the UK? Yes we have West Atlantic (don't pay well), DHL (no spaces at East Midlands for a long time apparently) and Air Contractors (again, pay poorly) but as far as I can tell that's it. How comes there are so many cargo airlines based in the USA and Germany but so few in the UK? Do cargo airlines tend not to do much cargo business from and to the UK?

Apologies if this has already been covered or is in the wrong section but I really want to find an answer. For people, such as myself, who are studying to become a pilot it feels as if i'm being pushed into having to either do PAX airline work in the UK or move abroad if I want to do SLF work. So why is this the case? I know that GSS had a contract with BA and were paying quite good but it was terminated, it seems unlikely that they will make a return by the looks of things so what does the future hold for cargo airlines in the UK?

Thanks to everyone in advance......

There are probably a few more if you count the companies that do mixed pax/cargo ops, such as Jet2, Titan and Loganair.

Size of uk landmass would be a good starter for 10..you can truck one end to the other in probably 12 hours, and very little needs to go one end to the other.
Usa is huge, hence more requirement.
Even if you look at northern europe, in a few hours driving you can cross a few borders, just no need for it. And if you do need it, it goes in cargo for a pax flight of which there are many.

Depends what kind of cargo. Long haul freight wise the UK is more of an end point receiver for main deck freight ex stansted than as a staging post that encourages home grown operators. Frankfurt is a big main deck freight staging post, other places around the world you'll see it such as Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Almaty, Dubai, Shanghai, Chicago, Dallas, Lagos etc. as an end point user you get quite a few foreign players flying into EMA, stansted etc. The problem is return loads to fill main deck. Belly cargo is more the thing in the UK transiting through London. Parcel wise, I'm not sure but the UK being small, the trucking network takes up a lot of capacity once flown in via likes of DHL etc.

What does your question really mean? Are you just generally curious or frustrated about the lack of career opportunities?

UK Cargo Airlines?
 

How about TAG with their 3 727F's ?