Air Canada plans expansion of Cargo Service to Asia

Air Canada plans to expand cargo services to China after signing a two year lease agreement with World Airways for an MD-11 cargo freighter to increase its cargo capacity to the fast growing China market. Air Canada plans to deploy the freighter three times weekly between Canada and Shanghai beginning May 2005, subject to government approval. The addition of the MD-11 freighter to Air Canada's existing daily Shanghai service will triple available weight capacity on the route.

In addition, Air Canada is extending its lease agreement with Gemini Air Cargo to operate over the North Atlantic for an additional two years effective March 1, 2005. Through this lease agreement with Gemini, Air Canada offers five times weekly all-cargo service between Toronto and Frankfurt, complementing its shared passenger operations to Europe. With a total cargo capacity of 85 tonnes, the MD-11 aircraft provides a 16 per cent increase in available weight capacity from a year ago.

"In light of the strong performance of our new freighter operations, and excellent customer response, we are focused on pursuing new strategic opportunities in high growth markets such as Asia," said Claude Morin, vice president of Air Canada's cargo operations. "The expansion of dedicated all- freight services on key routes to Asia and Europe strengthens Air Canada's position in the highly competitive cargo business by introducing new services that complement its shared passenger operations."

Air Canada has also boosted its freight capacity within Canada. Air Canada provides its cargo customers with an additional 18 tonnes of upper deck capacity four days per week in the Toronto-Calgary-Vancouver market using leased Boeing 727 cargo aircraft.

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