ATLAS OPTS FOR MORE B747-400s

ATLAS OPTS FOR MORE B747-400s    Atlas Air, the U.S.-based wet-lease freighter specialist, has exercised an option to purchase four more B747-400 freighters worth $750 million from Boeing Co.
   Atlas will take delivery of the planes, included as options in an order placed in 1997, beginning in 2002. The airline already operates 12 B747-400s. Atlas — which leases its freighters, including crews, maintenance and insurance, to other airlines” operates 38 B747 freighters in total.
   The B747-400 offers the lowest ton-mile costs and longest range of any production freighter, Atlas said, and is able to carry 124 tons of cargo up to 4,455 statute miles.
   Atlas has grown steadily in recent years, following world air freight growth rates that have outpaced passenger growth rates. Boeing expects the world freighter fleet to double in the next 20 years from 1,676 to almost 3,200 airplanes.