The Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2004.

 

Polar Air Cargo Inc. will be allowed to offer cargo service between the U.S.

and China, U.S. government officials said Friday.  The cargo carrier, a

wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc., was granted

nine weekly flights to China under an expanded air-services agreement

reached this summer between the U.S. and China.  United Parcel Service Inc.

and FedEx Corp. each received 12 new weekly flights under the agreement, and

Northwest Airlines received six additional flights. Half of the new flights

granted to UPS, FedEx and Northwest are available immediately, and the rest

begin in March.  Polar was considered the front-runner for the new

cargo-carrier slot, according to people close to the negotiations. It beat

out three others:

Arrow Air Inc.; Evergreen International Airlines, part of Evergreen

International Aviation Inc.; and Gemini Air Cargo LLC.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said it chose Polar for the new slot

because it "best demonstrated that it has the resources to provide vigorous

competition to the strong competitors already in the market." Polar said in

its application that it would offer cargo and express-package services to

Shanghai through a hub in Seoul from New York, Chicago and Anchorage,

Alaska.

Polar has been one of the fastest-growing scheduled-service, all-cargo

airlines since its start-up in 1993. It specializes in carrying

international freight and has expanded by acquiring existing landing rights

and winning regulatory approval for new flights. Atlas, of Purchase, New

York, bought Polar in 2001 from a General Electric Co. unit. Atlas emerged

from bankruptcy-court protection in late July.