Freighter zipping around the world

The Boeing 747-400 freighter that Air New Zealand is leasing from Atlas.

Air NZ's newest foray into global freight transport has begun, with the arrival of its new freighter aircraft.

The new world cargo service touched down for the first time in Auckland yesterday, as part of its twice-weekly global delivery schedule.

After dropping off cargo from Chicago, it took on its first transtasman delivery: 24 horses bound for Melbourne.

The plane, a Boeing 747-400 jumbo, can carry up to 119 tonnes of cargo (or 734cu m by volume) and can be loaded through its nose.

It is leased by Air NZ from a company named Atlas and comes with crew supplied and will fly from Auckland to Melbourne before flying on to Shanghai, then Frankfurt, Chicago and back to New Zealand (stopping off for refuelling in Hawaii).

It is replacing a joint venture that Air NZ had with German carrier Lufthansa, where it was able to sell space on a smaller MD-11 aircraft that did a similar round-the-world circuit.

The plane stays in Auckland for only a short time, to unload US cargo and take on more goods from New Zealand exporters.

Craig Sinclair, group general manager ventures, said around 80 per cent of the space on the plane had been pre-sold. It was full between Shanghai and Frankfurt and full between Germany and Chicago.

Sinclair said the new service would also be particularly good for New Zealand exporters wanting to send goods quickly into the burgeoning Chinese market, where there was still capacity available.

The Atlas freighter will be the only such aircraft regularly flying out of Auckland.