Maersk’s US-Korea air cargo service lifts off Monday

Shipping giant A.P. Moller – Maersk’s rebranded cargo airline will make its first scheduled flight on Monday between Seoul, South Korea, and Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, with the first of three newly built 767-300 freighters purchased from Boeing, the company announced Friday. The twice-weekly flights will be operated by Miami-based Amerijet International.

The flight marks Maersk Air Cargo’s entry into the U.S. market and the start of an airfreight service aimed at Maersk’s own customers as part of a vertically integrated offering of transportation and logistics services. The airline previously operated in Europe as Star Air, mostly as a contract carrier for express delivery companies and postal operators.

The flight also marks the first scheduled air cargo operation between the state of South Carolina and Asia. 

FreightWaves was the first to report on the 767 acquisitions and outsourcing of flight operations to Amerijet in July and that Maersk (DXE: MAERB) would inaugurate service between Incheon airport and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport this month after conducting trial flights on the route.

Maersk Air Cargo has a new freighter hub at Chicago Rockford International Airport thanks to its recent acquisition of German forwarder Senator International and recently opened an airfreight station near Chicago O’Hare International Airport to support import and export business at both locations. The airline is expected to soon begin service between Incheon and Rockford too.

The 767-300 is a medium widebody aircraft that can carry up to 52.4 tons of cargo.

It is considered a regional freighter not built for trans-Pacific operations, according to aviation experts. It likely will require two technical stops, including in Anchorage, Alaska, to refuel on a trip from Korea to the U.S. East Coast, said Stephen Fortune, the head of Fortune Aviation Services.

In its hybrid role as a freight forwarder, Maersk Air Cargo also operates capacity from Europe into the U.S., Mexico, South Africa and Singapore through charter arrangements with other all-cargo carriers, similar to arrangements made by many large logistics providers to have their own controlled capacity.

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Editor: Eric Kulisch