QF Cargo?

flightaware.com/live/flight/QFA7585

Is this a cargo bird?

Yes

Atlas Air Boeing 747-47UF: N409MC

yep i had seen this last year . And i was told it’s Atlas Air under contract. If you follow this aircraft from start to fiinish . It’s interesting . From Syd through NY you’ll notice the stops it makes.

Yeah, that is what made me think it was a cargo run…makes a lot of stops. Did you get to see the a/c? Is it QF paint?

As for Atlas, now that I think of it I believe I had read at one point on ATW that they were doing runs for QF. I wonder how their loads are?

They fly into one of the key cities in China. Then onto Anchorage on to Chicago then JFK . It may be a vegamite delivery?

Interesting.

This aircraft is in standard Atlas livery. It has come to Houston every so often as a normal Atlas aircraft doing cargo runs from KIAH.

Do you know if it is leased exclusively to Qantas or leased to them and other airline(s)?

Atlas Air has a fleet of planes. Most likly under contract with Quantas to fly the route for vegamite delivery. They move from Syd to China then Anchorage to Chicago Od onto JFK and Then Frankfort. Why? who knows. Maybe to keep their sales people busy. Atlas which also owns Polar Air. Atlas and Polar have regular routes and sch’s. Most likly QF contracting and then excess , selling services . Phone Quantas airfrieght and find out. They’ve got an office and warehouse across the street from O’Hare. Give’em a call and let us know what they say ?

I hope and pray that you made a boo-boo and know the real spelling is Qantas (NO “U”).

I’m not sure calling QF cargo would give me the information on the aircraft - I’d probably be talking to salesmen and they don’t know anything except sales.

Just a guess but I’d say the majority of the time an a/c could be used for a number of carriers. I believe I have seen an Atlas bird painted in EK colors on a.net…I guess it is all in what you are willing to pay when they fly for you.

I can’t tell you that it was or wasn’t, but if I had to take a very educated guess at it, I would say that it is not leased exclusively to a specific carrier. The reason I say this is because 95% (not a real number, just indicated to show significance) of leased aircraft are repainted under the new carriers c/s.

This also goes in with the other answer and a great example is Saudi Arabian Cargo. They used to be scheduled to Houston 2 times a week (when they’d actually show up on the other hand was anyones guess…:wink:) They used to fly a Boeing 747-268F, HZ-AIU. Very common with overseas practices, the same aircraft is used on the same route at all times, so it constantly did the OEJN-EBBR-KJFK-KIAH-EBOS-OEJN route as Saudi 902 & Saudi 903. This aircraft was 100% owned and operated by Saudi Arabian Airlines.

Well around January-ish 2008, Saudi Arabian Airlines determined that they wanted another aircraft to add to their fleet for cargo ops, so they leased a plane from Air Atlanta Icelandic, a Boeing 747-2B3F, TF-AMC. Now this aircraft used to be in the standard all white livery because it would be used by many carriers, but when Saudi Arabian Airlines bought the full lease on it, it was repainted in a Saudi Arabian Cargo c/s because it now only flew for Saudi Arabian Airlines, normally only on the SVA 902/903/904/905 route.

So if an airplane is going to be flying only for one carrier, that carrier wants as much exposure as possible and what better way then to have your aircraft painted in your colors. Otherwise they just stay with their operators colors.

When you have SV bling you buy what ever you want :wink:

To go on a tangent, what you saw was one of two companies that fly for EK, Atlas Air and TNT. Emirates Sky Cargo does not actually have a single aircraft that they own. They are all leased and operated by their respective companies. If you notice, Emirates Sky Cargo aircraft will all say “Operated by XXXXXXX”. This is because not only is the aircraft not in house colors (they are all painted in Emirates Sky Cargo colors), but the flight crews are also not from Emirates, they are from Atlas Air & TNT. Same with the Delta 744, you will see “Operated by Northwest Airlines” on the back, port side because the aircraft is actually owned by and flown by Northwest Airlines, but the colors are Delta, which the same goes for 98% of the regional airlines out there.

I get all that about who operates it but I thought it went hand with the idea of paying the $ to have your livery painted on someones a/c? Am I missing the mark?

I see what you’re saying now, but when your biggest marketing tool is the aircraft painted in your colors at all these locations, I think there are going to be very, very few operators that aren’t going to have their aircraft painted. Can’t cost more than a couple loads of cargo/pax I’m sure. I guess it comes down to how intricate, but it can’t be that expensive (in relation to everything else in aviation).

Right so I guess when say Atlas and EK enter an agreement it is “X$” to paint OUR a/c YOUR livery and “Y$” to keep it ours. As you pointed out on the EK a/c it is their colors with the info of the operator on the side belly…still good advertisement :wink:

Looking at the [ timetable, I do not see where it says the flights are operated by another carrier.

Do you have photographic evidence that you can share here that shows the “operated by…” painted on the NW and Emirates aircraft?

In the case of Delta, the timetable will show “operated by …” because the flight is operated by another airline and that airline can also sell seats under its own code. In the case of Emirates Sky Cargo, while it may say “operated by Atlas” on the aircraft, a shipper cannot ship his goods on Atlas.](Emirates SkyCargo)

What difference would it make to the shipper what a/c their goods fly on? As long as they arrive when they say they will arrive.

[airliners.net/photo/Emirates … 1508342/L/](http://www.airliners.net/photo/Emirates-SkyCargo-(Atlas/Boeing-747-47UF-SCD/1508342/L/)

airliners.net/photo/Emirates-SkyCargo-(TNT/Boeing-747-4HAF-ER-SCD/1510737/L/

airliners.net/photo/Emirates-SkyCargo-(TNT/Boeing-747-4HAF-ER-SCD/1470176/M/

[airliners.net/photo/Emirates … 1426747/M/](http://www.airliners.net/photo/Emirates-SkyCargo-(Atlas/Boeing-747-47UF-SCD/1426747/M/)

I can’t speak for the NW/DL thing…except for the fact that it has been discussed and photographed that a NW B744 was repainted in DL livery, and it has been discussed that NW crews will continue to fly their metal until the merger goes through.

airliners.net/photo/Delta-Ai … 1452455/M/

I could have swore I read either in a forum here or on a.net that there was something by L1 or L2 about NW operated…unless it is inside I don’t see it.