New Zealand Post and Freightways announced today that they will expand their freighter capacity with the mutual use of three Boeing 737-400 freighter aircraft from May 2016 in response to their growing express and parcel volumes.
The three aircraft will be leased and operated by a company set up as a joint venture between Airworks Flight Operations, the air supplier of NZ Post’s Express Couriers Limited (ECL), and Fieldair Holdings Ltd (FAH), Freightways’ subsidiary and current airline services company.
The B737 freighters, each with capacity for up to 17 tonnes of cargo, will replace on the one hand the current NZ Post fleet of one 737-300 aircraft and two ageing Fokker F27 Friendships, each with 4.8 tonne capacity, and also Freightways’ fleet of five small Convair planes, with capacity of 6.5 tonnes per plane.
New Zealand Post’s Express Couriers Limited (ECL) will use the planes to carry parcels and packets for overnight delivery around New Zealand. The aircraft capacity will also be used by Freightways and expand the existing inter-island load sharing airfreight agreement between the companies.
New Zealand Post CEO Brian Roche said the new aircraft are faster and will provide greater volume capacity and reliability, which is important for New Zealand Post in a growing market for express parcels and packets.
“With more people shopping online than ever before, the demand for overnight parcel delivery has grown and this will continue. These aircraft will help to future-proof our network, giving New Zealand Post the ability to support our customers’ service requirements and meet the growing market for the next ten to 15 years.”
He added that the new fleet will provide operational cost savings for New Zealand Post and avoid further significant change over at least the next ten years.
The aircraft will fly in and out of Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch linking up with New Zealand Post’s nationwide processing, road line-haul and delivery network in these centres.
Separately, express delivery group Freightways Limited said the three B737 freighters would replace the current five Convair freighter aircraft, in response to growing demand for its expanding express parcels business. These small planes currently operate daily between Christchurch, Palmerston North and Auckland.
Freightways Managing Director Dean Bracewell said that due to the company’s growing express package volumes, the demand for earlier positioning of freight through the airport hubs has increased. Therefore, Freightways has for some time been exploring alternative aircraft to sustain the current and the expected new levels of freight required by customers.
"This new air freight service will provide increased air freight carrying capacity, faster sector speeds, savings in annual capital and operating costs and reduced carbon emissions per item of freight carried. In addition, the new fleet will provide sufficient capacity to accommodate the expected future growth of our Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) customers."
Bracewell expects the B737-400s to provide sufficient capacity for the future expected growth of the overnight airfreight market in New Zealand "for many years to come and to deliver positive service and financial benefits to Freightways' stakeholders."
The new joint venture company will serve Freightways' express package businesses and NZ Post's Express Couriers Limited business and if demand warrants, capacity will be made available to other freight operators.
Through Air Freight NZ Limited, a subsidiary of FAH, Freightways' express package businesses have been providing an overnight, inter-island express package air freight service from airport/road hubs at Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch since 1989, when the first of five Convair aircraft was introduced.
Airwork Holdings Limited (AWK) founded in 1936, is one of the oldest aviation businesses in New Zealand. It is a specialist provider of a wide range of services to the aviation industry.
