Japan’s Nippon Cargo Airlines – a subsidiary of Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), the nation’s largest shipping firm – has announced a stalling of its fleet expansion plan over the next three years to weather “unprecedented†economic turbulence.
Japan’s second-largest international air cargo carrier after Japan Airlines, currently operates eight Boeing 747- 400Fs and had originally planned to increase the number of aircraft under its own operation to 24 by the end of 2013. But NCA will now maintain its current fleet size until the end of March 2012, the company said.
“While the cargo industry has seen economic slowdowns in the past, what we are experiencing since the latter half of 2008 is proving to be unprecedented,†NCA said in a statement. “Adding new routes and expanding our fleet at a time when the markets are already in an over capacity situation would be unwise and very unprofitable,†NCA said.
