Qantas extends wet lease on six Atlas freighters

QANTAS Freight Enterprises has confirmed it is extending its wet lease on three Boeing 747-400 Freighter aircraft leased from Atlas Air by six years.
Qantas Freight Enterprises chief Grant Fenn said the new agreement demonstrates the airline's long-term commitment to growing its international air cargo business, reports Aircargo Asia Pacific magazine.
"The operation of our dedicated freighter fleet since 2003 has been a great success. They are used to operate a mix of scheduled and charter services and support Qantas passenger aircraft belly hold capacity to key cargo destinations around the globe," Mr Fenn said.
"We currently operate seven scheduled weekly B747F freighter services from Australia into China, five weekly services from China to the United States, four weekly services from the US into Australia and one weekly service from Hong Kong, Europe and Shanghai into Australia."
He added that in 2006/07 Qantas airlifted nearly 340,000 tonnes of cargo, up by more than 100,000 tonnes since dedicated freighters were introduced in 2003.