Air New Zealand contracts with Atlas for freighter service

Air New Zealand contracts with Atlas for freighter service    Air New Zealand said it will launch its first dedicated freighter service April 3 using a Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet leased from and operated by Purchase, N.Y.-based Atlas Air.
   The round-the-world service will provide New Zealand farmers greater access to China and provide importers and exporters more capacity. Planes will depart Auckland on Saturdays and Tuesdays on a scheduled route of Melbourne, Australia; Shanghai, China; Frankfurt, Germany; Chicago; and Auckland.
   The new service replaces one in which Air New Zealand shared capacity on a Lufthansa MD-11 that operated Frankfurt; New York; Chicago; Atlanta; Auckland; Melbourne; and Bangkok, Thailand.