DHL Express has ended its contract with SmartLynx Airlines to provide air transport services in its European package network, according to the Riga, Latvia-based carrier.
An aircraft database shows SmartLynx in early February placed five aircraft in storage. A conservative assumption that the planes lease for about $225,000 per month suggests that the idle aircraft will cost the airline more than $1 million per month.
SmartLynx Airlines is a provider of outsourced capacity for commercial airlines and other customers. The company furnishes the aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance, and customers are responsible for filling its planes with cargo or passengers.
“We can confirm that as of Feb. 1st, we have concluded our cooperation with European Air Transport Leipzig,” SmartLynx said in a statement to FreightWaves. “SmartLynx Airlines is currently reassessing its fleet composition and evaluating potential changes.”
DHL leased four freighters from SmartLynx’s subsidiary based in Malta.
EAT Leipzig, an airline subsidiary of DHL Express, operates its own aircraft and partners with third-party carriers to move express shipments in Europe. Its home base is Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany.
Last year, DHL Express canceled flying services agreements with Mesa Airlines, a Phoenix-based regional carrier that also operates passenger aircraft, and Miami-based cargo airline Amerijet International. DHL hired Northern Air Cargo to replace Mesa on a route between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
“DHL operates a fixed, integrated air express delivery network in order to be able to provide capacity at short notice and perform deliveries within a short timeframe, for example, for overnight deliveries. We use a wide range of aircraft types and sizes to find the optimal service levels for our customers and to be able to flexibly handle shifts in volumes. In this context, we continuously review the deployment of third-party providers as well as our own capacities (e.g. in the long-haul area),” DHL said in a statement provided to FreightWaves.
Trade publication ch-aviation first reported on DHL’s cancellation of its partnership agreement with SmartLynx. It said two of the SmartLynx freighters are in maintenance and two are in storage.
One of the planes, which served the Leipzig-Dublin route, has been sitting at Erfurt Weinar Airport in Germany since Feb. 3. Two other aircraft have been idle in Riga since the start of the month. They previously operated between Leipzig and Nantes, France. A fourth aircraft hasn’t flown in more than 90 days, according to aircraft tracking site Flightradar24.
SmartLynx had a goal of being the largest operator of A321 converted freighters in the world. As of last fall, it had 13 of the narrowbody cargo jets, although some were dry leased to other airlines. Brazilian startup Levu Air Cargo, for example, last year leased an A321 freighter from SmartLynx. Only four or five of SmartLynx’s freighters are currently in service, according to Planespotters and other databases.
SmartLynx Airlines operates about 50 passenger aircraft between the main company and subsidiaries in Malta and Estonia.
Click here for more FreightWaves stories by Eric Kulisch.
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