DHL Express has contracted its US airlift partner ABX Air to operate a cargo route between Europeand Africa and has also agreed a new aircraft lease deal with the airline.
ABX Air parent company Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) announced yesterday that ABX Airlast month started flights six days a week between Brussels and Lagos, Nigeria. The charterflights, operated for DHL Express subsidiary European Air Transport NV/SA, will initially operateuntil September 2009. The agreement is in addition to ABX Air’s ACMI services for DHL in the UnitedStates.
“ABX Air is pleased to be providing these expanded services to DHL,” said ABX Air PresidentJohn Graber. “We will continue to seek new opportunities to support them and other major customers,both in the US and abroad, with our expanding fleet of wide-body Boeing 767-200 freighters.”
Meanwhile, ATSG and DHL have sealed a new agreement for the lease of ABX Air planes. Theagreement, which is further to a memorandum of understanding that DHL and ABX Air executed in March2009, grants DHL options to lease from ABX Air, or an affiliate, up to four Boeing 767-200SF(freighter configuration) aircraft under favourable rates, and for terms beginning August 15, 2010,and continuing through 2015.
In exchange, DHL has agreed to assume financial responsibility, retroactive to January 31,2009, for ABX Air’s obligations under capital leases on five Boeing 767-200PC (non-standard cargodoor configuration) aircraft currently dedicated to DHL’s US network.
ABX Air is expected to continue to operate some or all of the five leased 767-200PCs asrequired under the current ACMI Agreement between the companies. The agreement does not stipulatewhether ABX Air would continue to operate any of the four 767-200SF aircraft that DHL may opt tolease.
ATSG CEO and President Joe Hete said: “The completion of this agreement with DHL formalizesthe deleveraging process that we announced earlier this year, including the restructuring of ourpromissory note to DHL. DHL has worked closely with us in finalising these agreements, and wecontinue to jointly explore opportunities to provide DHL with additional 767-200SF aircraft on anACMI or dry lease basis beyond 2010.”
