Global Crossing to base Airbus A321PCFs in Colombia and Ecuador

Global Crossing Airlines will be present at the next public hearing by the Colombian Civil Aeronautics, which will be held virtually on May 26.

The company requests to have an AOC and base in Colombia, to operate non-scheduled services under the name Global X Colombia S.A.S. in Airbus A321F and A321PCF aircraft, using as main base the El Dorado International Airport (BOG) in Bogota.

This application joins the one filed in April with the National Civil Aviation Council of Ecuador – CNAC under the LATINX Air brand, based at Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) in Quito. In this case, the company filed its registration to operate all variants of the Airbus A320 Family.

Roberto Held, Strategic Advisor for Global Crossing Airlines, told Aviacionline that it chose Ecuador and Colombia because they are «two very important cargo hubs due to the current trends in the segment and their geographical location».

Global X’s cargo operation model in Colombia will be with an A321F (P2F) fleet and under ACMI or charter mode for other airlines in the region.

If it becomes a reality, it will be the first airline in Latin America and the Caribbean to have the A320 Family freighter versions in its fleet.

«This allows to cover routes of 4-5 hours of distance with a capacity of 24 Tons. Global X is an American company based in Miami, from where it will also offer this capacity and connectivity in Central and South America,» said Roberto Held.

GlobalX in the United States

GlobalX, based in Miami, is dedicated to ACMI and Wet-leasing charter services to other airlines and tour operators in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America.

The airline currently operates three Airbus A320s with 180-passenger capacity and one Airbus A321 with 183 seats. In October 2021 it had announced the addition of three more A320 passenger aircraft along with five A321P2Fs, the latter to develop its cargo business.

The first Airbus A321 P2F (Passenger-to-Freighter) to be delivered to Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX) started its conversion process from its passenger to its cargo configuration. The work is being performed at ST Engineering’s facility in San Antonio, Texas.

Ed Wegel, president and CEO of GlobalX, commented that they are working on the certification process of the aircraft by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The company expects to obtain the corresponding ratings in October of this year and to operate up to 25 Airbus A321 freighters by 2025.