Qantas says it will add Dallas/Fort Worth to its dedicated Boeing 747-400F freighter network from June 9.
The 747 freighters, which are operated by Atlas on behalf of Qantas, will stop in Dallas/Fort Worth every Thursday morning as part of a triangular routing from Australia to China and the US.
Qantas, which holds cargo traffic rights from the China to US and currently has about five per cent of that market, said the midweek service suited deliveries of electronics, e-commerce and general cargo into the USA from China.
Further, the service to Australia supported energy, mining and aerospace cargo from the US to Australia.
“Qantas already carries freight in the belly space of our daily A380 passenger services between Sydney and Dallas Fort Worth,” Qantas International and Freight chief executive Gareth Evans said.
“The addition of this B747-400F freighter service now gives us capacity for main deck and oversize shipments. This additional service reinforces the Qantas Group’s commitment to the Texas region and responds to demand we have for bringing larger loads and outsized shipments into Australia.
“It really gives us a competitive offering in the Australia-China-US freight market.”
Currently, Qantas’s 747 freighters operate from Sydney to Chongqing, before flying onwards to Shanghai and Chicago before returning to Sydney, via Los Angeles, four times a week.
Under the new schedule, the return service to Sydney will operate from Chicago via both Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles.
Evans said the performance of Qantas’s dedicated freighter fleet had been excellent, supported by its unique traffic rights for the large China-North American freight market.
