Ohio-based aviation holding company Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) has officially confirmed it has struck a deal with Amazon wherein the online retail giant will lease twenty B767 freighters for use in its US distribution network.
ATSG’s Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM) will fulfil the agreement through its ABX Air (GB, Wilmington Air Park) and ATI - Air Transport International (8C, Wilmington Air Park) units. The two airlines will together operate the aircraft for Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc., on five year contracts with the leases to last between five and seven years.
According to CargoFacts, five of ATSG's B767-200(F)s are already in service with Amazon with seven more to be added by year-end. The latter aircraft include four coming off lease with other ATSG customers such as Amerijet International (M6, Miami International), Cargojet Airways (W8, Hamilton, ON), and Star Air (Denmark) (Copenhagen Kastrup) along with three not currently committed to customers.
In terms of B767-300Fs, three, which are currently undergoing freighter conversion with Bedek Aviation Group, will be added by the end of the year with an additional five are due by mid-2017. The five are currently in passenger configuration awaiting BDSF conversion with Bedek.
Under the codename Project Aerosmith, Amazon and ATSG have been trialling services since the middle of last year with Wilmington Air Park used as a trial logistics base.
“Since last summer, we have been working closely with Amazon to demonstrate that a dedicated, fully customized air cargo network can be a strong supplement to existing transportation and distribution resources,” said Joe Hete, President and CEO of ATSG. “We are excited to serve Amazon customers by providing additional air cargo capacity and logistics support to ensure great shipping speeds for customers.”
In conjunction with the commercial agreements, Amazon also has the option of acquiring a 19.9% stake in ATSG valid for a five-year period.
Until now, Amazon had carried out deliveries using third party operators such as United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx, and the United States Postal Service.
