Acquisition of Polar Air boosts cargo capabilities, while wider range of services aims to help airlines expand

Just weeks after finalising its acquisition of freight operator Polar Air Cargo, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings has unveiled a new global hub network and an expanded service portfolio.

Following the opening of a new Miami hub in September, the leading wet-lease freighter operator on Monday launched its European hub in Liege, Belgium, and will soon open a hub in Anchorage, Alaska, to cater to its customers' Asia-linked volumes, according to chief executive Rick Shuyler.

Atlas specialises in aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance leases, but it is now offering variations of that strategy - such as aircraft, maintenance and insurance, and dry lease (just the plane) - which, in tandem with the new hubs, it says will help airlines expand into new markets without massive capital expenditure.

Atlas Air completed the US$84 million acquisition of Polar Air on November 2, gaining 17 Boeing 747 freighters to match its own, about 65 route authorities, including six daily frequencies to Japan's Narita airport, and one beyond right to anywhere in Asia.

'Japan is a highly restricted market and one that is not likely to get any easier to penetrate,' Mr Shuyler said. 'For Atlas, which is and wants to remain a global air carrier, not having a presence in the world's fourth-largest air-cargo market left a pretty big hole in our system.

'Getting access to Japan has long been a goal of Atlas Air, and the Polar acquisition gave us a way to do that.'