YTO Cargo Airlines (YG, Hangzhou) has announced it will expand beyond offering cargo capacity solely to its parent YTO Express, a Chinese courier firm, and will commence cooperating with third-parties as an ACMI/charter cargo provider, Cargo Facts has reported.

The carrier's business with its parent will continue to provide the majority of work but will increasingly be supported by other operations, according to YTO Cargo Airlines' plan.

The airline plans to sell excess capacity on its flights operated for YTO Express, as well as sign both ad-hoc charter and long-term ACMI contracts with other companies. It will focus mostly on international routes.

The new services may be marketed by the carrier's forthcoming subsidiary, North-Western Cargo International Airlines (CO, Xi'an Xianyang). YTO Express signed an agreement to form the airline as a joint-venture with Western Airport Group, the operator of Xi'an Xianyang airport, and the Shaanxi provincial government in February 2017, although so far the new airline has not materialised. The start-up is set to take over three B737-300(F)s from YTO Cargo Airlines out of a total of seven units currently operated by the carrier.

The cargo specialist is also expecting to add a further three B757-200(PF)s to its existing fleet of two units of the type in 2018. It is also one of the launch customers for the converted B737-800(BCF), although no timeline for deliveries has been announced yet.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, YTO Cargo Airlines currently operates scheduled services exclusively within mainland China and Hong Kong. Its main bases are Xi'an Xianyang, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu Shuangliu.