Atlas Air lands El Al as new customer

An Atlas Air 747-400 all-cargo plane (Photo Credit: Atlas Air)

El Al Israel Airlines is outsourcing operation of its main freighter route between Tel Aviv and Liege, Belgium, to Atlas Air Inc. under an extended charter arrangement.

Atlas, an aviation services company headquartered in Purchase, N.Y., said Tuesday it is leasing El Al a Boeing 747-400 all-cargo aircraft, operating it with its own crew and providing maintenance and insurance (ACMI) beginning this month. 

El Al, a new customer for Atlas, is experiencing strong growth in demand across its freight network, according to the announcement. The Israeli carrier sells the space on the plane and covers expenses such as ground handling, landing fees and fuel. 

No terms of the commercial cooperation were disclosed, but ACMI deals typically run for one to three years.

El Al opted for the turnkey “wet” lease with Atlas because in the past year it ended use of Boeing 747s in its own fleet and switched to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Ran Yehezkel, a spokesman for the Israeli carrier, said in an email.

In October, El Al Cargo began offering capacity on multiparty booking platform cargo.one, which enables dynamic rates and reservations.

Atlas Air is a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (NASDAQ: AAWW), which also owns Southern Air and a straight aircraft leasing company. It is also the majority shareholder of Polar Air Cargo Worldwide.

John Dietrich succeeded longtime Atlas CEO William Flynn on Jan. 1.

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Parcel and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was runner up for News Journalist and Supply Chain Journalist of the Year in the Seahorse Freight Association's 2024 journalism award competition. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist. He won the group's Environmental Journalist of the Year award in 2014 and was the 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com