Alpine Air Express (AIP, Provo) has purchased fellow regional US Part-135 air cargo carrier Suburban Air Freight (SUB, Omaha Eppley), which provides dedicated air cargo services to DHL International and others. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
In a statement, the company said the strategic move marked its second acquisition since becoming a portfolio company of private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, LP (AEI) in 2019. Alpine Air Express also acquired the assets of Great Lakes Airlines (Cheyenne) in 2020.
The cargo specialist operates a growing fleet of more than 50 active aircraft, including Beech 1900C, Beech 1900D, and Beech 99 turboprops. It owns a proprietary Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to convert the Beech Aircraft Corporation 1900D from passenger to cargo configuration and has invested more than USD5 million to complete modifications. Its customers include United Parcel Service, United States Postal Service, FedEx, and others.
Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Suburban Air Freight provides dedicated air cargo services to DHL, amongst others. Like Alpine, it primarily operates a fleet of Beech 1900s and a highly complementary integrated maintenance operations team. Suburban Air Freight's leadership team of Treasurer Geoff Gallup and President James (Jay) Armstrong would remain with the company to help with the transition.
"The addition of Suburban and its talented team significantly expands our company and its market position, enabling us to better serve our new and existing customers, " commented Alpine Air Chief Executive Officer Michael Dancy.
"Growing e-commerce activity, faster delivery requirements, and supply chain complexity has increased the demand for large scale, reliable regional air cargo service providers," said AEI Senior Partner Jon Nemo. "We have invested significantly in Alpine, including this strategic addition of Suburban, to create a leading provider of critical air cargo infrastructure capable of meeting this growing demand."
Being part of Alpine would provide Suburban Air Freight with greater resources to expand its business and add more routes to its network, Gallup added.
