US – THAILAND – Southern Air Holdings Incorporated, part of the Oak Hill Capital Partners Group, have added two new Boeing 777 wide body twin engine freighters to their fleet. The planes will service the increasing air freight requirements of Thai Airways International (THAI) Cargo from their Suvarnabhumi , Bangkok base. The service will be officially inaugurated by the two companies after the second aircraft is handed over on the 2nd March at which time Southern Air, THAI Cargo and Boeing executives, as well as customers and dignitaries, will celebrate the new airplanes at Boeing’s assembly facility in Everett, Washington.
Officials of both companies expressed their satisfaction at the launching of the venture. Mr. Pruet Boobphakam, Executive Vice President Commercial of Thai Airways International said he was “delighted” to be the first air freight company in the region to offer the capabilities of the 777’s which he described as “truly the best-in-class planes”.
Daniel J. McHugh, new CEO of Southern Air commented, “Southern Air is excited that THAI Cargo will utilize the full capacity of these first two 777s, the first to join our fleet. We are committed to investing in the future of our business, and the combination of the 777s and our 16 Boeing 747s makes Southern Air the first ACMI operator to feature a full fleet of current and next generation freighter aircraft.
The 777 Freighters are the largest, most capable twin-engine freighters in the world and are expected to offer a 17 to 28 percent fuel-per-ton advantage to other freighters. The 777s, which have payload capacity of more than 100 metric tons and more than 650 cubic meters, also have the longest range of any twin-engine freighter on the market, which translates into fewer stops, shorter cargo delivery times and lower cargo handling costs for customers.
Photo:- A Southern Air 747 coming in to land at Luxembourg Airport.
