Im trying to start a cargo company, Ive bought a fleet of 7 cargo planes ranging in size and I am based with offices around the middle east. However I am unable to schedule flights.
When I try to schedule a flight instead of going green the scheduled times go a brown/dark red colour.
Any ideas about what I am doing wrong?
Nothing is wrong … Cargo-Flights are sheduled in brown colors
I’m trying to get a cargo airline started and I’m having tons of trouble. I’ve got flights to cities with high cargo traffic but not filling up planes and the ones that are full are still leaking $$$$. Any ideas?
Hi,
if your plane is full and you still loose money, you should perhaps raise your prices. Other reasons may be: leased planes that spend too much time on the ground (is your maintenance ratio way over 200% ?) or owned planes that are very old and heavy on fuel and maintenance.
You could interline with passenger airlines who carry a reasonable amount of cargo. Mind you… interlining costs money, so ignore airlines that mainly operate turboprops and regional jets. The statistics page of every airline tells you how much cargo units they can carry. Their flight schedules tell you if their destinations are an interesting addition to your network.
Jan
Cargo airlines (to me anyway) are much more harder to make profittable. I tried several time but they always lost money every week. You have to raise cargo prices to make a profit, but by doing so you don’t get as much cargo.
Thanks for the Help folks. May switch to passengers.
Cargo is a challenge, but it’s possible. I’d suggest -
Start with small aircraft. ATR42 or Cessna Caravan.
Look for routes that have no cargo competition, or just a few pax aircraft with minimal cargo space.
You’ll be amazed how many mid-sized airports have absolutely no cargo competition whatsoever.
Get IL agreements
Up your prices. The default cargo prices are way too low to make any money.
The big advantage with cargo is that you can fly anywhere you want.