American Airlines (A1G) (AAL) plans to operate over 1,000 cargo-only flights in September 2020, essentially doubling its air freight services compared to August.
In September, the airline plans to accompany its 1,200 passenger flights and their belly capacity with more than 1,000 cargo-only flights, offering a total of 2,200 monthly flights for air shipments, the carrier announced on August 17, 2020.
In March 2020, American reintroduced its cargo-only services after a 35-year hiatus since 1984. The idea to push for air freight came about as the COVID-19 outbreak progressed and passenger traffic decreased.
“On March 17 — four days after most air travel between the United States and Europe was paused — the team that had originally explored the possibility of cargo-only flying was called to put their plan in motion,” the airline’s statement reads.
American Airlines’ (A1G) (AAL) first cargo-only flight was launched to Frankfurt (FRA), Germany. The carrier then subsequently branched its network to Hong Kong (HKG), followed by Shanghai (PVG), Beijing (PEK) and Seoul (ICN).