LONDON – On September 27, the Canadian cargo operator, Cargojet, updated its strategy as well as its long-term financial targets.

The Updates

To start things off, the carrier is aiming to reach a new milestone in terms of its fleet numbers with an aim to grow its fleet to 40 total aircraft by the end of 2022.

At present, Cargojet operates a total of 36 aircraft, this is broken down as 14 Boeing 757-200 Freighters, three Boeing 767-200 Freighters and 19 Boeing 767-300 Freighters.

The carrier has plans to add more Boeing 757-200 Freighters and Boeing 767-300 Freighters to their fleet as well as eventually take delivery of Boeing 777 Freighters.

In line with the growth of their fleet, Cargojet aims to also expand its domestic overnight network to a total of 16 different Canadian cities, which in turn would mean the company has an outreach to 90% of the Canadian population. Not only will their overnight domestic network be expanded, but the carrier will also be expanding its ACMI network. This will be most helped with the introduction of their inbound Boeing 777 Freighters as well as the additional Boeing 767-300 Freighters.

In terms of its financial targets, the carrier has outlined the following –

• The carrier expects its full-year (FY 2022) revenue to grow to between $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion. This is quite an increase compared to their FY 2021 revenue of $758 million.
• Their adjusted EBITDA for FY 2022 is expected to also grow to an estimation between $500 million and $550 million. Again this is also quite a large increase compared to FY 2021’s adjusted EBITDA of $293 million.
• Cargojet is also expecting its adjusted free cash flow to also increase for FY 2022 which is estimated to be between $320 million and $360 million, whereas their adjusted free cash flow for FY 2021 stood at $160 million.
• Their net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio has also increased to now be targeted between 1.50 and 2.50 for FY 2022, whereas FY 2021’s net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio stood at 1.03.

Commenting on their strategy and yearly financial outlook, Cargojet’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Ajay Virmani has said, “We believe our customer-centric focus, industry-leading on-time performance, our team of dedicated professionals and a strong balance sheet will allow us to continue to diversify our portfolio of services and position us well to face emerging macro headwinds.”

Overall

It is great to see that Cargojet has revised its strategy and financial figures in a positive motion in the wake of the pandemic. Despite the cargo market now beginning to take a dip, seeing the Canadian operator expanding its services by the end of the year, which in turn will bring in their newly expected financial figures, is certainly a great sign.

Cargo has been booming for a good few years now, however, with many of the world’s industries, separate from aviation, struggling with manufacturing goods, especially tech equipment, we are beginning to see a slight downward trend in the cargo sector.

However, it is likely this will only be for a short while before it will return to normal growth rates, once those supply chain issues have been resolved.

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