Nippon Cargo Airlines mulls leasing rather than parking surplus 747-400s

NIPPON Cargo Airlines (NCA) is considering leasing agreements or joint ventures for its grounded Boeing 747-400s creating an all-747-8F fleet numbering 20 aircraft by 2015.

To avoid mothballing costs, Nippon Americas president Shawn McWhorter is considering partners but plans to reject ventures proposals from Japanese or Chinese carriers such as the now-defunct Jade Cargo International or Great Wall all-freight carriers.

In its second phase of a long-term strategy to take on charter services around scheduled operations to provide greater flexibility by creating dedicated charter teams and a new website to underpin this, Mr McWhorter said, according to Atlanta-area Air Cargo World.

"We will be taking charters to Africa, to Brazil and to China," he added, in a move that will hand over decision making from head office near Tokyo to regional management.