Alaska Air Cargo adds two Boeing 737-800 P2Fs to fleet

Alaska Air Cargo will add two Boeing 737-800P2F aircraft to its dedicated freighter fleet serving the state of Alaska.

These additions increase the freighter fleet from three to five aircraft.

The two 737-800 converted aircraft will come from Alaska Airlines existing passenger fleet. The conversion will begin this year and are projected to re-enter service as freighters in 2023.

The 737-800 aircraft provides a 40% capacity increase per departure over the current 737-700 freighters with a payload of nearly 50,000 pounds.

With a range of 2,800 nautical miles, the -800 is believed to be the most fuel-efficient aircraft to serve intra-Alaska.

“Fleet expansion positions our growing cargo business to meet increased demand that we see from industry and consumers,” said Adam Drouhard, managing director for Alaska Air Cargo. “The -800 aircraft provides more load space than our current -700 freighters, essentially doubling Air Cargo’s total freighter lift capacity. We look forward to getting these -800s into service to support Alaska’s supply chain and connect cargo to over 100 cities we serve across North America.”

Alaska Air Cargo’s freighters serves 20 communities in the state of Alaska. The cargo airline also offers belly cargo service on a fleet of over 300 passenger planes serving the US, Canada, Hawaii, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Alaska Air Cargo transports more than 200 million pounds of cargo annually – including seafood, mail, and freight.

Rebecca Jeffrey www.aircargonews.net