Cargojet Inc. (“Cargojet” or the “Corporation”) (TSX: CJT) announced today a comprehensive plan for its fleet and route expansion to meet domestic and international growth opportunities starting 2021 and beyond.
Having successfully raised $365 million, earlier this month, through an equity raise to pay off debt and acquire new aircraft, Cargojet is rapidly moving forward to execute on its growth strategy to capture additional e-Commerce volumes and international air-freight opportunities through an expanded fleet.
“Fast changing global supply chains and e-commerce trends present a unique opportunity for Cargojet to substantially grow its international business from an opportunistic add-on to a long-term, sustainable growth driver” said Dr. Ajay Virmani, President and CEO. “Having successfully grown our domestic network with a solid market-share and diversifying into ACMI and Charter Services, building a new growth pillar through international business is a natural next step for us”.
Cargojet’s fleet expansion will consist of:
- Five Boeing 767 freighters, announced earlier, will begin arriving in 2021 with the first freighter arriving in Q3 of this year with one additional freighter arriving every quarter thereafter. Two of these aircraft will be deployed within its domestic network to meet projected e-Commerce growth and add stand-by capacity while the remaining three freighters will be used for international routes to select strategic destinations to capture emerging growth opportunities beginning Q4, 2021.
- Two Boeing 777 freighters will be arriving in 2023 with Cargojet having the option to add two more B777s in 2024. The first two of these freighters will be deployed for long haul Asian routes and Emerging South Asian markets strategically integrated with Cargojet’s domestic network and in addition, they will serve and connect seamlessly with select European and South-Central and North American cities.
- Cargojet expects all of its fleet to have fully completed its major regular and heavy maintenance by the end of Q3, 2021. This will enable Cargojet to begin international service to select cities in Europe and South-Central and North America starting Q4, 2021 utilizing its existing fleet and add capacity as new freighters come on-line.
With this expanded fleet, Cargojet will be better positioned to meet the growth expectations of its customers and build on its strong domestic network covering 15 major cities everyday while selectively adding International destinations that will strategically position Cargojet to service fast growing domestic and cross-border e-Commerce and urgent-cargo opportunities. In addition, Cargojet will continue to explore and focus on additional growth opportunities in the vast US market.