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New 747 Freighter Service Begins at Logan Airport

Massport today announced new regularly-scheduled 747 freighter service from Boston's Logan International Airport to Shannon, Ireland; Birmingham, England; and Ostende, Belgium every Wednesday and Saturday. The new service begins Wednesday, January 12.

Pathfinder Air Resources, based in Taylor, Michigan, is an air cargo charter company. "This new service provides an important shipping option to our New England exporters by offering direct all cargo lift from Logan to Europe," said Massport Executive Director Virginia Buckingham. "This service will also help us to realize the full benefit of Massport's new trade office in Ireland, which was opened in November, 1999."

The Pathfinder service, the first 747 freighter to be operated from Boston's Logan Airport since Air France terminated their freighter service in 1994, will originate in Detroit before stopping in Boston. The Boeing 747-200 freighter, the most popular wide-body freighter in use today, has a volume capacity of 26,800 cubic feet (760 cubic meters), and can carry over 220,000 pounds (100 metric tonnes). The plane's main deck cargo compartment can accommodate cargo with a maximum height of 118 inches (3 meters).

"We expect a profitable operation because we can combine heavy, dense automotive part shipments with bulky lighter computer components and other high tech items from the Boston area," said William Larkin, President of Pathfinder Air Resources.

Pathfinder's interest in serving Boston was kindled by their participation in an "Air Cargo Round Table" meeting with airlines and Boston-area freight fowarders hosted by Massport's International Marketing Department and route development staff. The meeting highlighted Boston's need for main-deck, all-cargo capacity to Europe. Shannon, Ireland was mentioned as a desired destination by several Boston-area forwarders.

"We have several computer and telecommunications firms who have been looking for added service to Ireland, which is one of our fastest growing export markets," said Charles Yelen, Massport's Managing Director of International Marketing. "This is good news for our exporters."