Air Canada is striving to become a bigger player in the hotly-competitive global air cargo arena. At the Feb. 17-18 Cargo Logistics Canada Expo & Conference staged in Montreal, Sal Ciotti, managing director of Air Canada Cargo outlined what he termed an “aggressive” Air Canada strategy to expand its fleet and penetrate more and more international markets. “Looking at the next three years, our capacity is going up by about 50%,” Ciotti said. From a total of 73 dual-purpose aircraft in 2015, the Air Canada fleet will grow to some 98 aircraft by 2018. This compares with 55 aircraft in 2013. In 2016, Air Canada is adding eight new international destinations, including a first to Africa (three flights a week to Casablanca, Morocco starting in June). New widebody aircraft are continuing to enter the fleet. Ciotti acknowledged that “compared with the passenger side of things, cargo is about 15 years behind. We need to be more modern and more efficient, and to optimize what we have.” He stressed that Air Canada cargo needed to be a greater player on such markets as Europe, Asia, China, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. “We see South America as a very big opportunity. And markets like Dubai are emerging as new distribution points.”
Sal Ciotti – managing director of Air Canada Cargo
Sal Ciotti – managing director of Air Canada Cargo
Ciotti also suggested that Canada was strategically well placed to create cargo transit hubs for international carriers, alluding to the Amsterdam concept as a successful business model. “We have the capacity to serve Asia out of Vancouver. We have a global hub in Toronto. Montreal is a hub that can serve Northern Europe and Africa. And Halifax has a hub role to play.” Regarding the rapid shift towards eAWBs (electronic AirWayBill), Air Canada plans to be 100% paperless for all shipments within Canada by April 28. “There’s a business case for everybody in the industry,” said Ciotti. Increased Widebody Capacity to and from CA and NV Meanwhile, Canada’s largest provider of air cargo services announced on Feb. 19 that it has boosted widebody capacity to and from the western United States with larger aircraft servicing Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. The carrier now offers its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service daily between Toronto and LA. It offers its Boeing 767-300ER service daily between Toronto and San Francisco; five days a week between Vancouver and Las Vegas; twice daily between Toronto and Las Vegas; daily between Montreal and Las Vegas; and daily between Vancouver and Los Angeles. Also offered are overnight connections for widebody cargo to Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Tucson, Nogales, El Paso and San Diego.