Crestone strengthens freighter, engine footprint

11/12/24 • 17 min

Crestone Air Partners plans to continue enlarging its presence in the freighter and engine markets.

The Denver-based lessor has grown its portfolio to about $500 million in assets under management since becoming an independent subsidiary of Air T in July 2022. That portfolio includes freighter and passenger aircraft and engines as well as landing gear, Crestone Chief Executive Kevin Milligan says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

The lessor started its freighter activities by buying two 737 Classics in 2022, but Crestone now aims to make larger, “package type” transactions, Milligan says.

“In our earlier days, I think we were focused on smaller stuff generally just to get going and to build the track record and the portfolio,” he says. “And now we’re trying to look a little bit more toward scale and some efficiency with the platform.”

Crestone in late 2023 moved into 737NG freighters and bought three from GA Telesis with leases attached, but it still sees value in 737-400Fs.

“Granted, there are still a lot of parked aircraft and it’s going to take years for that to be reabsorbed into the system but, fundamentally, people need freighters and there’s a trend, I think, to more and more of that,” Milligan says. “So, we look for those types of value dynamics. We like the -800 still, at the right price.”

In October, Crestone added another freighter type to its portfolio by taking on the first of two A321Fs under management. That aircraft is an A321-200PCF on lease to Global Crossing Airlines.

“We’re looking for customers out in the market that might want to adopt the A321F,” Milligan says. “We think it offers a lot of capability. It hasn’t been widely adopted yet, though, and I think that’ll come in time.”

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more of Milligan’s conversation about Crestone with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

Crestone Air Partners plans to continue enlarging its presence in the freighter and engine markets.

The lessor started its freighter activities by buying two 737 Classics in 2022, but Crestone now aims to make larger, “package type” transactions, Milligan says.

Crestone in late 2023 moved into 737NG freighters and bought three from GA Telesis with leases attached, but it still sees value in 737-400Fs.

In October, Crestone added another freighter type to its portfolio by taking on the first of two A321Fs under management. That aircraft is an A321-200PCF on lease to Global Crossing Airlines.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more of Milligan’s conversation about Crestone with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.

Previous Episode

ATSG’s Berger bullish on expansion strategy

ATSG Chief Executive Mike Berger is looking forward to receiving the group’s first A330P2F even as demand for 767 freighters remains solid.

Over the past year, carriers in countries including Georgia and Uzbekistan have entered the medium-widebody market and grown using 767s from ATSG’s leasing arm, CAM.

“The thing that we’re very keenly aware of is how much capacity can be absorbed into this market,” Berger said in a fireside chat at Cargo Facts Symposium 2024 in San Diego last week. “And that’s something we have a very, very close eye on. And we see our competitors and some other lessors also leasing aircraft into the same markets. So, we’ll balance that out with how many more assets we think they can absorb.”

Meanwhile, ATSG sent its first A330 for conversion with EFW in late 2023 as part of its growth and transition into Airbus medium widebodies. The group expects to deliver its first two A330-300P2Fs on lease by the end of the year, with a couple more to follow in early 2025, Berger said.

“It’s our future,” he said. “Make no mistake about it.”

The group appointed Todd France as chief commercial officer in August. Most recently president of CAM, France reports to Jeff Dominick, who became ATSG president in June when Berger became CEO.

“They’re good thinkers; they’re going to challenge us, challenge me, challenge the others to evolve our business,” Berger said. “We really firmly believe that our business needs to continue to evolve. We can’t stand still. We won’t stand still, and these two guys, specifically, are new parts of the leadership that are going to help us get there.”

Tune in to this episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more from Berger’s fireside chat with Cargo Facts Editor Jeff Lee at Cargo Facts Symposium 2024.

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RwandAir sees growing demand for dedicated freighters

RwandAir continues to see growing demand for dedicated freighter operations after taking delivery of its first 737-800SF two years ago.

\The 2007-vintage unit 35131 (ex-TUI Airways) joined the RwandAir fleet in November 2022 on lease from Merx Aviation, marking the airline’s entry into the freighter segment.

RwandAir has used the 737-800SF on routes within Africa as well as to the Middle East to complement its belly operations.

“We’re looking at ways to accommodate the demand that has been brought by the narrowbody services and also the widebody A330 passenger flights,” Jean Bosco Gakwaya, director of cargo at RwandAir, says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.”

The carrier launched an African cargo hub in May 2023 as part of a joint project with Qatar Airways Cargo. Given Rwanda’s landlocked nature and its location in Africa, RwandAir plans to develop its freighter operations to serve the continent and is looking at options to expand the fleet.

“The nature of the equipment that we would be bringing onboard could be an A321F or another 737-800F,” Gakwaya says. “That is something that definitely we’ll keep in our mind in the near future.”

Other African carriers have since stepped into the 737NG freighter segment, including EgyptAir, Serve Air, Kenya Airways and TAAG Angola Airlines.

Tune in to this week’s “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear more on RwandAir as Gakwaya speaks with Cargo Facts Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke.