Northern Air Cargo (NC, Anchorage Ted Stevens) is in line to add its maiden widebody freight capacity Air Transport Services Group has announced.

In a statement, ATSG said that through its Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM) unit, it has reached an agreement with Northern Aviation Services for the lease of three B767-300Fs to be operated by Northern Air Cargo.

The aircraft, the first of which is due in October of this year, will then provide capacity to ATSG's Aloha Air Cargo (KH, Honolulu) unit in Hawaii, StratAir in Florida, as well as Northern Air Cargo itself.

Under the agreements, CAM will lease the three freighters to Northern Aviation Services, Inc. on seven-year contracts. The agreements also provide for the potential lease of additional B767-300s from CAM in 2018.

"Some of the leased 767-300s will replace CAM-owned B767-200/300(F)s currently operating on an ACMI basis under ATSG’s Wet-2-Dry program, which allows carriers to prove their business case for 767s under ACMI arrangements, then transition to long-term dry lease arrangements," the firm said.

For its part, Northern Air Cargo currently operates three B737-200(F)s, one B737-300(F), and one B737-400(F) (only recently delivered in June). For its part, Aloha Air Cargo operates four B737-300(F)s and one B767-300(F) (wet-leased from ATSG unit ABX Air (GB, Wilmington, OH)).