JAL group’s Spring Japan to operate Yamato A321Fs

JAL Group has outlined its A321-200(P2F) network to be operated by subsidiary Spring (IJ, Tokyo Narita) for door-to-door delivery company Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd from April 2024 using four of the converted freighters.

In a statement dated November 22, 2022, the JAL Group said three of the aircraft had been delivered with the fourth due in February 2023. The conversion process is scheduled to begin in March 2023 at the Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) facility in Singapore.

Yamato handles around 1.8 billion parcels annually and services the entirety of Japan. The four freighters will wear Yamato livery. The JAL Group says the decision to use Spring as the operating airline, rather than Jetstar Japan (GK, Tokyo Narita), will optimize management resources and strengthen the low-cost carrier's business model. The four routes, which will run 21x daily, are:

• Okinawa Naha - Kitakyushu;

• Tokyo Narita - Okinawa Naha;

• Tokyo Narita/Tokyo Haneda - Sapporo Chitose; and

• Tokyo Narita/Tokyo Haneda - Kitakyushu.

Yamato advises the maximum payload on each aircraft will be 28 tonnes. The main deck of each plane will accommodate 14 AAY containers and the lower deck will accommodate ten AKH containers. The joint venture remains subject to application and approval from the relevant authorities.

ch aviation