 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 1969 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceased operations | June 1, 2012 | ||||||
| Hubs |
| ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Destinations | 18 | ||||||
| Parent company | DHL (49.5%) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Miami, Florida, United States | ||||||
| Key people |
| ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
ASTAR Air Cargo Inc. was an American cargo airline based in Miami, Florida. Its main base was Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Kentucky, with hubs at Miami International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. [2] It was owned by John Dasburg, Richard Blum and Michael Klein.
 |
The airline was established and started operations in 1969. It was formed as DHL Worldwide Express by Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn. The airline was spun off from DHL and a majority stake sold to a private investor in order to comply with federal foreign ownership laws. FedEx and UPS challenged the U.S. citizenship of DHL Airways, asserting to the Department of Transportation that DPWN exercised effective operational control of the airline. The airline rebranded as DHL Airways on December 22, 1981, and grew rapidly, initiating services to Asia and Australia.
In July 2003, John Dasburg completed a management buy-out of the airline and rebranded to ASTAR Air Cargo on June 30, 2003, with its two target customers remaining to be DHL and the United States Air Force. In 2007, DHL bought 49.5% of nonvoting and 24.5% of voting stock and added a member to the board of ASTAR Air Cargo.
On May 28, 2008, DHL announced the plan to terminate its business relationship with ASTAR by outsourcing the air transportation to its competitor UPS. In May 2009 DHL terminated their plan to outsource to UPS and ASTAR continued operating out of DHL's CVG facility.
The company decided to shut down its cargo operations when its contract with DHL was terminated abruptly effective on June 1, 2012. All remaining active aircraft were put in storage.
ASTAR Air Cargo operated the following freight destinations until operations were ended as of June 1, 2012: [3]
Canada 
Mexico 
United States 
The ASTAR Air Cargo fleet consisted of the following aircraft: [4] [5]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A300B4-100F | 1 | 1999 | 1999 | Use for spare parts only |
| Airbus A300B4-200F | 7 | 1999 | 2009 | |
| Bell 206 B-2 | 1 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Bell 206 L-1 | 1 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Boeing 727-100F | 11 | 1984 | 2004 | |
| Boeing 727-200F | 14 | 1990 | 2009 | |
| Convair CV-580 | 1 | 1989 | 1990 | Leased from European Air Transport |
| Douglas DC-8-73CF | 5 | 1995 | 2012 | |
| Douglas DC-8-73F | 5 | 1993 | 2012 | |
| Learjet 35A | 1 | 1983 | 1999 | |
| Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner | 12 | 1984 | 1995 | |
Polar Air Cargo Worldwide Inc. is a cargo airline based in Purchase, New York, United States. It operates scheduled all-cargo services to North America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Its main base is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, with hubs at Los Angeles International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, Narita International Airport and Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea. Polar's parent company is Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and DHL has a 49% equity interest in the airline.
Atlas Air, Inc. is a major American cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in White Plains, New York. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings. Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of the Boeing 747, with 54 of the type. In 2021, the airline had 4,056 employees and operated to more than 300 global destinations.
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is a public international airport located in Boone County, Kentucky, United States, around the community of Hebron. The airport serves the Cincinnati tri-state area. The airport's code, CVG, is derived from the nearest city at the time of the airport's opening, Covington, Kentucky. The airport covers an area of 7,000 acres. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027, in which it is categorized as a medium-hub primary commercial service facility.
DHL is a German logistics company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery and express mail service, delivering over 1.7 billion parcels per year. A subsidiary of the German logistics firm DHL Group, its express mail service DHL Express is one of the market leaders for parcel services in Europe. DHL Express is Germany's main international courier and parcel service. DHL also operates a separate parcel service targeting the German consumer market in conjunction with Deutsche Post.
Allegheny Airlines was a local service carrier that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979, with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself merged with American Airlines. Its headquarters were at Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia.
ABX Air, Inc., formerly Airborne Express, is a cargo airline headquartered at Wilmington Air Park near the City of Wilmington, Ohio, US. ABX Air operates scheduled, ad hoc charter and ACMI freight services. It also provides flight support services and training. ABX Air is owned by Air Transport Services Group.
Raya Airways Sdn Bhd d/b/a Raya Airways, is a cargo airline with its head office at Cyberjaya, Selangor and the main hub for Raya Airways at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia.
FedEx Express is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2023, it is the world's largest cargo airline in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the namesake and leading subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, delivering freight and packages to more than 375 destinations over 220 countries across six continents each day. FedEx Express is also the world's largest express transportation company.
An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the hub-and-spoke system. An airline may operate flights from several non-hub (spoke) cities to the hub airport, and passengers traveling between spoke cities connect through the hub. This paradigm creates economies of scale that allow an airline to serve city-pairs that could otherwise not be economically served on a non-stop basis. This system contrasts with the point-to-point model, in which there are no hubs and nonstop flights are instead offered between spoke cities. Hub airports also serve origin and destination (O&D) traffic.
LATAM Cargo Chile is a cargo airline based in Santiago, Chile and the freight subsidiary of the LATAM Airlines Group. It is operating cargo flights within South America, to Europe and North America from its hubs at Miami International Airport and Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport.
Amerijet International Airlines, Inc. is an American cargo airline headquartered in Miami, United States. The airline delivers air freight with its fleet of Boeing 757s and Boeing 767s from its main hub at the Miami International Airport to 48 destinations throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Their network spans 476 destinations throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East.
Capital Cargo International Airlines, Inc. was a cargo airline based in Orlando, Florida, United States from 1995 to 2013. It provided on-demand and wet lease aircraft charter. Its main base was Orlando International Airport. It is owned by the Air Transport Services Group.
Manchester–Boston Regional Airport, informally referred to as Manchester Airport, is a public use airport 3 miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States on the border of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties. It is owned by the City of Manchester, and is in the southern part of the city on the border with Londonderry, New Hampshire.
For the Dallas, Texas, based airline that flew in 1978, see Kitty Hawk Airways.
UPS Airlines is a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky, US. One of the largest cargo airlines worldwide in terms of freight volume flown, UPS Airlines flies to 815 destinations worldwide. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of United Parcel Service since its launch in 1988.
Merlin Express was a Part 135/121 cargo and passenger airline operating at its peak throughout the United States, North and South Caribbean, South America, Alaska, and Mexico. The airline began operations in 1983 as Sat-Air, a subsidiary of Fairchild Aircraft. UPS purchased 14 Merlin IV-C dedicated cargo aircraft from Fairchild and as part of the agreement, Fairchild agreed to provide crew and maintenance services for the aircraft. Similar contracts were signed with the United States Air Force for C-26 sales, though only maintenance add on services were included. Initially, all Merlin Express aircraft provided feeder service to United Parcel Service and were painted in UPS livery. In the ensuing years, the airline began to acquire additional aircraft from its parent Fairchild, and from the open market, incorporating freight service contracts for Federal Express, DHL, and Airborne Express. By 1998, Merlin Express was operating a fleet of approximately 30 Metro III, Merlin IV-C, and Metro II aircraft. In 1996, Merlin successfully gained certification as a passenger Part 121 carrier and operated passenger service routes in Alaska under contract for Yute Air. In 1997, Fairchild Aircraft acquired Dornier Aircraft of Germany and Merlin began preparations for the addition of D-328 aircraft to its fleet. As the airline's parent company began to confront cash problems, Merlin Express, Gen-Aero FBO Services, and other subsidiary companies of Fairchild Dornier Aerospace were sold-off in order to generate needed cash. Merlin Express was purchased by Corporate Air of Billings, Montana in 2000 and renamed "Merlin Airways". Fairchild Dornier Aerospace declared bankruptcy in 2002. Under new owners, Merlin Express' original route network was shrunk and was eventually centered on the airline's remaining hubs in Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Currently based at Rafael Hernández International Airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The airline still flies to some Caribbean islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Dominican Republic.
John H. Dasburg is an American businessperson and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Northwest Airlines from 1990 to 2001 and of Burger King from 2001 to 2002. Dasburg grew up in Miami, Florida and graduated from Miami High School. He served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He attended the University of Florida for college, and used the GI Bill to get his MBA also from UF. He was one of the youngest name partners at Peat, Marwick Mitchell accounting firm, and went on to become one of the senior members of the executive team at Marriott. He later accepted a position with Northwest Airlines, and became the CEO in 1990. He is credited with saving the airline from bankruptcy in the early 1990s. He served as chairman, CEO, and president of Burger King and chairman and CEO of DHL Airways. He is currently Chairman and CEO of ASTAR Air Cargo, Inc.
Sun America, Inc., d/b/a JetAmerica, was a proposed American low-cost scheduled public charter airline headquartered in unincorporated Pinellas County, Florida. On March 10, 2009, the airline announced a number of public scheduled charter flights from underutilized airports to Newark and Minneapolis–St. Paul using a Miami Air International Boeing 737-800 to begin on June 30, 2009. On May 27, 2009, the airline held its first press conference at Toledo Express Airport, Ohio, announcing its first focus city and the start of flight operations on July 13, 2009. The airline announced the station markets of Lansing, Michigan; Melbourne, Florida; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Newark, New Jersey; South Bend, Indiana; and Toledo, Ohio. The airline also publicly stated it was evaluating service to Baltimore, Maryland; Charleston, West Virginia Chicago Midway, Illinois; Rockford, Illinois; Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton, Ohio; Greensboro, North Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Clearwater, Florida. The airline later delayed the start of service to August 14, 2009. However, JetAmerica did not begin service as it was unable to finalize slots at Newark.
Amazon Air is a virtual cargo airline operating exclusively to transport Amazon packages. In 2017, it changed its name from Amazon Prime Air to Amazon Air to differentiate themselves from their Amazon Prime Air autonomous drone delivery service. However, the Prime Air logo remains on the aircraft. Until January 2021, the airline had relied on wet-leasing its aircraft from other operators, but going forward it is looking to directly own some aircraft. On the planes the airline owns, the airline will still rely on others for CMI leases.
