A photo of First Air's C130 Hercules cargo plane. On April 21, the last Hercules flight operated by First Air flew to Ottawa before the final sale of the plane to Lynden Air Cargo. The two companies recently signed a new strategic agreement for Hercules services. - Photo courtesy First Air |
First Air announces Cargojet deal
New deal expands company's reach in the south
Karen K. Ho
Northern News Services
Monday, July 20, 2015
NUNAVUT
Nunavut residents and businesses have more options when it comes to shipping items with Northern airline First Air after the company expanded its commercial co-operation agreement with overnight air cargo operator, Cargojet.
"You can now ship your cargo on any of the Cargojet points, even cities that we don't serve such as Vancouver," said First Air's vice-president of commercial services, Bert van der Stege. "I expect more cargo to go from Cargojet points of contact with customers, to the North on First Air flights, from some bigger players like UPS, FedEx and online retailers like Amazon."
According to the news release about the agreement, First Air currently serves 32 communities in the North and Cargojet carries more than 1 million pounds of cargo each business night to locations across North America.
Currently, there isn't a lot of cargo going from the North to the south and vice-versa, said van der Stege. Many retailers, such as Walmart Canada and Amazon.ca, have also recently ended their free shipping policies to communities in the territory.
But van der Stege said the new agreement with Cargojet could spur additional activity, such as the transport of fish from Pangnirtung to Vancouver through an overnight transfer in Ottawa.
"It makes cargo transport a lot easier and faster," he said, adding that First Air has already received enquiries about the service through its customer contact service. "We know there is an interest between the two airlines to what this agreement is about and how people can benefit from it."
Prior to this announcement, van der Stege said that First Air already flew cargo for Cargojet, including on one of its new aircraft, for nearly a year.
"This is the next logical step to expand our relationship," he said.
This new agreement between First Air and Cargojet runs until 2025.
