Kalitta Air is putting its newest fleet additions, the first-ever Boeing 777 aircraft converted from passenger to cargo configuration, to work for Israel-based cargo airline Challenge Group and long-time customer DHL Express.
Ypsilanti, Michigan-based Kalitta Air last month received the initial two of seven converted freighters under a long-term lease from AerCap after they were retrofitted by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) with a large cargo door and other features that enable containers to be transported on the main deck.
Kalitta was the launch customer for the IAI converted 777 freighter. The airline currently operates four 777-300 converted freighters, with three additional aircraft scheduled to enter service before year-end, said Heath Nicholl, Kalitta’s chief operating officer, in an email.
Industry publication Cargo Facts first reported that Kalitta Air has now taken possession of its fifth 777-300 and expects to have all seven on order by the end of the year.
Challenge Group last week announced it has contracted with Kalitta Air to operate one of the 777 converted freighters on its behalf between Tel Aviv and Hong Kong via Dubai, a route the carrier has operated for five years with its own aircraft. The capacity arrangement gives Challenge Group a head start evaluating the 777’s operational performance and gaining hands-on experience with the platform until its own 777 converted freighters are delivered by AerCap and IAI.
“This partnership with Kalitta Air . . . provides us with the opportunity to test and familiarize ourselves with this new aircraft type, ensuring that when our first converted aircraft arrives, we are fully prepared to operate it at the highest standards. This will ultimately allow us to offer our customers a more efficient, flexible, and environmentally responsible air cargo solution,” said Or Zak, chief commercial officer at Challenge Group, said in a news release.
The transportation services agreement with Kalitta Air is currently set up to run for several months. The aircraft conducts multiple rotations per week carrying mostly e-commerce products, Gianluca Marcangelo, head of industry relations and marketing, said in an email.
Challenge Group operates 10 aircraft (six Boeing 747-400s and four 767-300s) across three airlines licensed in Israel, Belgium and Malta. Its main hub is at Liege Airport in Belgium, where it has a 430,500-square-foot cargo terminal. A logistics subsidiary also handles middle-mile delivery to distribution centers at European destinations.
Challenge has committed to take six 777-300 passenger-to-freighter conversions. The airline expects to receive its first 777 from AerCap by the end of the year, said Marcangelo. It will register the 777-300 under its Maltese air operator’s certificate.
The redesigned jets are dubbed the “Big Twin” because of the 777’s size and two GE-90 engines. With 25% more interior volume than a 777-200, the 777-300 Extended Range freighter is well suited for lightweight e-commerce shipments that take up a lot of space and don’t weigh as much as other commodities. It has 14% more volume than a 747-400 converted freighter and is 21% more fuel-efficient, according to IAI.
U.S.-based aerospace startup Mammoth Freighters is also in the final stages of Federal Aviation Administration certification for its own 777 conversion design. The company has dozens of orders from several customers.
Kalitta Air earlier this month began operating three of the Big Twins on trans-Pacific routes for DHL, according to aircraft database Flightradar24. Records show three freighters routinely operate from Tokyo and Hong Kong to DHL’s hub in Cincinnati, as well as to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York’s JFK airport and Miami. Kalitta also operates factory-built 777s and 747s in DHL’s air network.
Nicholl said additional converted freighters are available now for wet lease (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance bundle) and charter flying.
Kalitta Air operates 21 Boeing 747-400 cargo jets and 10 factory-built 777 freighters,
“We have not retired any 747s as a result of the 777 introductions. The [converted freighters] are supplementing our widebody network, leveraging their fuel efficiency and payload-range advantages where they best fit customer demand,” Nicholl told FreightWaves.
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