Southern Air Adds Two New 777 Freighters

NORWALK, Conn., April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Air Holdings, Inc. today announced the addition of two Boeing 777Fs to its fleet.  With these additions, Southern Air will operate four 777F aircraft, the world's largest and most advanced twin-engine freighter. Southern Air has taken delivery of its third 777F and will take delivery of its fourth on April 25 from Boeing.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120403/NY81217 )

Southern Air is the first and only ACMI operator to fly the 777F, demonstrating its ability to serve customers in an environmentally superior and fuel efficient manner, with fewer stops, shorter cargo delivery times and lower cargo handling costs.

The new aircraft will be immediately inducted into DHL Express, the world's leading international express provider. They will be utilized by DHL for its new round-the-world service from Hong Kong to Los Angeles to Leipzig, Germany, and back to Hong Kong.  Southern Air's first two 777Fs have flown the Cincinnati-Bahrain-Hong Kong routes for DHL since September 2011.

Daniel J. McHugh, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Air, said, "The addition of two new 777Fs to our fleet is another critical step forward in the transformation of Southern Air and our long-term fleet enhancement program.  The expansion of our relationship with DHL speaks volumes about our commitment to delivering extraordinary levels of service and reliability to our customers. These aircraft, which are more efficient and environmentally advanced than any other wide body freighter, solidify our position among the world's leading cargo carriers."

Stephen Fenwick, CEO Americas, DHL Express, said, "Our 777 partnership with Southern Air has been very effective to date. Their performance reliability has been high, and we are pleased to be expanding our relationship with the start-up of this second 777 round-the-world route, which will also take full advantage of the aircraft's long-range payload capability and fuel efficiency. The new daily service routed Hong Kong-Los Angeles-Leipzig-Hong Kong will reduce transit times for DHL customers in much of Asia to the US West Coast, and will enable DHL to offer the latest possible pick-up times in key West Coast cities for many customers shipping to European destinations."

Oliver Gritz, Managing Director, Europe, at Southern Air, said, "The 777's fuel efficiency, range and payload reduce costs for our customers and allows them to set up new routes more easily. DHL Express' new round-the-world route is an excellent example.  It offers a significantly improved service for DHLs customers, and the economics of the 777 aircraft was an important factor in DHL Express' decision to set up this route."

The 777 Freighters are the largest, most capable twin-engine freighters in the world, operating at a 17 to 28 percent fuel-per-ton advantage to other freighters.  The 777s, which have payload capacity of more than 100 metric tons and more than 650 cubic meters, also have the longest range of any twin-engine freighter on the market.

Southern Air and DHL share a commitment to environmental protection as both a business responsibility and opportunity.  In that respect, Southern Air supports DHL's GoGreen environmental protection program, which is a critical part of its strategic objective offer customers innovative, sustainable solutions while also making a positive contribution to the world.

The third and fourth 777Fs in the Southern Air fleet are painted, like the first two, in combined DHL and Southern Air livery.

About Southern Air
Southern Air was founded in 1947 as a high-quality global cargo carrier specializing in the provision of block space and aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance ("ACMI") services.  Southern Air's blue-chip customer base includes some of the world's largest combination cargo carriers and government agencies.  Southern Air currently operates a fleet of six Boeing 747-200s and will be adding eight 747-400s to the fleet by 2013.  Southern Air is the first ACMI operator in the world to operate the new Boeing 777 Freighter and currently operates three such aircraft, with an additional aircraft slated for delivery in April 2012.  Southern Air is a portfolio company of Oak Hill Capital Partners, a private equity firm with considerable expertise in aircraft leasing, financing and manufacturing.

About the Boeing 777
Unrivaled success in markets across the globe has made the 777 the flagship of the world's most successful airlines.  With its wide fuselage, generous stowage and elegant interior the 777 has been voted the best aircraft by the readers of Executive Travel magazine for two years in a row.  At the top of the charts for reliability and productivity, the 777 helps airlines maximize earnings and exemplary environmental performance makes the 777 a welcome visitor to highly regulated airports.  Filling the gap between the mid-size widebody cargo airplanes and the larger 747 freighters, the 777 Freighter (with 102 tonnes of revenue payload) delivers lower tonne-mile costs, flies greater distances nonstop, and achieves the lowest trip costs of any large twin-engine freighter.

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SOURCE Southern Air