Cargojet Airways (W8, Hamilton, ON) will start its own scheduled cargo flights to countries in South America and Europe it had previously served on behalf of Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) until the end of 2017.
In a statement, Cargojet said that effective February 2, 2018, it would deploy B767-300F equipment on 2x weekly return flights from Hamilton, ON to Bogotá (Colombia) and Lima International (Peru) via Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson and on weekly return flights from Hamilton to Cologne/Bonn (Germany). The routes will be the carrier's first self-scheduled international flights as, according to the ch-aviation schedules module, it currently offers regular freighter flights to fourteen destinations across Canada exclusively.
Under its previous Air Canada partnership, Cargojet had connected Toronto Pearson to Frankfurt International in Germany as well as México City International (via Dallas/Fort Worth), Bogota, and Lima (via Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) in South America using B767 freighter equipment.
"Our recent presence in these markets has led to increased demand for our services and allows us to continue to optimize our overall freighter aircraft utilization and expand our range of services and customer base," Ajay K. Virmani, CEO of Cargojet, said.
Despite it being a success, the Air Canada contract was terminated after the Air Canada Pilots’ Association (ACPA) refused to extend the deal's twenty-month trial period citing insufficient benefit to its membership.
For its part, Air Canada has already announced it will mitigate the partnership's end by bolstering its weekly belly-hold capacity on flights to Mexico City and Lima through increased weekly frequencies and upgauged aircraft.
