By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTQantas Freight and Air New Zealand have enjoyed unprecedented cargo business in recent years. To continue the trend, the carriers strive to make improvements. Today Qantas Freight offers five B747-400 freighters weekly from the United States: three weekly services from the United States to Sydney, one weekly service to Melbourne and one weekly service to Europe via the Middle East. The first Sydney service operates from New York (JFK) via Chicago (ORD), the second operates from JFK via Los Angeles (LAX) and the third operates from Chicago (ORD) via Toledo (TOL) to Sydney. The Melbourne service operates from Chicago via New York (JFK) and the weekly European/Middle East service operates JFK – Sharjah (SHJ) – Frankfurt (HHN). All services are operated using wet leased Atlas Air B747-400 aircraft. “Our long partnership with Atlas gives us the operational stability we require as we proceed with plans to look for opportunities to grow our freight businesses,” states Ben Andrew, manager, Qantas National Freight Sales – the Americas. In addition, Qantas Freight operates freighter services to the Middle East, Europe, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Bangkok. All freighter services operate under Qantas flight numbers. Qantas operates 43 passenger flights per week between Australia the United States, including daily services from New York, via Los Angeles and three times weekly from San Francisco. Qantas discount airline Jetstar also operates five services a week between Australia and Honolulu. All Qantas services are operated using Boeing 747-400 aircraft. Currently, the ratio of freighter versus passenger traffic from the Americas region is roughly 67% freighters versus 33% passenger (chargeable kilos). “It is very evident from the double digit growth we experienced between the United States and Australia last year that capacity will be the biggest challenge for us over the next 12 months—particularly in the later half of the year,” Andrews comments. “There is no doubt that the current strong Australia dollar is making US exports more attractive and there is no sign that that this situation will change in the near term.” To help with this imbalance, Shanghai, China is an important stop for Qantas freighters on their way from Sydney to the United States. “All US bound freighter services operate via Shanghai,” states Andrew. Qantas Freight operates seven freighter services each week into Shanghai and a further weekly freighter service into Hong Kong. “This is in addition to the belly space capacity offered on 28 weekly flights from Australian to Hong Kong and from March, seven weekly flights from Australia to Shanghai,” he says. Despite rumours that Qantas may consider selling its freight arm, Andrews verifies that this is not true. “Instead we are looking to substantially grow in both scale and broader supply chain capability throughout the Asia Pacific region,” he says. “Coupled with other recent initiatives this simply means Qantas Freight will in the future be able to offer an even better range of services to meet its customers’ business needs. Freighter aircraft will remain part of our fleet for the long term. We enjoy a long and successful partnership with Atlas and are fully committed to our existing wet leased Boeing 747-400F freighter aircraft.” Indicative to the carrier’s commitment to freight, the Qantas Group announced in late August the 100% acquisition of Singapore-based express freight operator, DPEX Worldwide. Its worldwide network includes 18 countries across Asia, which gives Qantas an opportunity to enter the Asian express market and significantly expand its footprint in the region. Meanwhile, Qantas is upgrading its fleet and will take delivery of its first of 20 A380 aircraft in the later half of this year. “The aircraft, which when it arrives will be over two years late, will free up a bit of capacity in our schedule and allow us to look at new routes and frequency increases,” Andrews says. “Qantas ha