News / Atlas Air bets on a leisurely return to passenger flying, while LH Cargo soars

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Atlas Air is predicting longer-term changes to the airfreight market, as passenger flying and cargo routes diverge.

The carrier, which now has a quarter of its fleet on long-term charters, and 60% on ACMI, is betting that belly operations will not return to pre-pandemic levels.

“We expect passenger networks will look different than prior to the pandemic, and will favour more leisure and point-to-point flying,” said chief executive John Dietrich in an earnings call yesterday.

“This will result in more need for dedicated ...