Maximus Air Cargo, the UAE’s largest dedicated cargo aircraft operator, announced a significant expansion to its fleet.
Three additional Airbus A300-600 regional freighters – each offering 48 tonnes of payload capacity – purchased from Japan Airlines (JAL) and representing a total investment of Dh D350 million – including conversion, will be introduced to the fleet in July, September and November this year.
The introduction of these aircraft, which brings the total number of aircraft operated by the company to eleven are currently undergoing conversion from passenger to cargo configuration by EADS EWS, a global centre of excellence for Airbus passenger-to-freighter conversions.
Maximus Air Cargo President and CEO Fathi Hilal Buhazza said the acquisition would not only strengthen Maximus Air Cargo’s regional leadership position in the air freight industry but also transform it into one of the biggest and most versatile operators of its kind.
“The arrival of these aircraft, which were built in 2000 and 2002 and are the youngest ever to be converted from passenger planes to freighters, comes at an exciting time in the company’s growth programme,” he said. “They will provide strategic support for our ambitious expansion plans which strengthens our positioning as the Middle East’s largest all cargo operator with opportunities to serve the Middle East North Africa (MENA), Asia and European regions.”
“Furthermore the high utility and high efficiency of this aircraft will help open the next exciting chapter of our development by further facilitating the dual business model of cargo charter and ACMI lease solutions, and will strengthen our organisational readiness for the future,” he added.
“Due to our steady and constant operations we realized a 16% growth in 2010 over the previous year with a turnover of Dh 430 million this year. As a result of this stability we are able to make this major investment. Maximus Air Cargo has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2005 and there is still more to achieve. With the addition of these new cargo aircraft and more destinations, we can now offer cargo agents and freight forwarders a wider choice of cities for their shipments.”
“Having opted again for the popular A300 wide-body freighter, Maximus Air Cargo will be best prepared to meet its growing airfreight demands. Seeing a current operator of our converted freighters recontracting EADS EFW for further P2F conversions, is the best possible indication of the product’s capability and performance,” said Andreas Sperl, President and CEO of EADS EFW.