Atlas Air has promoted Richard Broekman to executive vice president, chief commercial officer and head of sustainability.
In his new role, Broekman will be responsible for the development and execution of Atlas Air’s global commercial strategies, and the management of the corporate sales strategy for ACMI, CMI and charter services.
Additionally, Broekman will also assume an expanded role as head of sustainability to drive the company’s commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
In this capacity, he will lead development of Atlas’ decarburization strategies, which include partnering with its customers to implement sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and carbon offsetting initiatives.
Broekman succeeded Michael Steen, who became president and chief executive of Atlas Air Worldwide on June 15.
Since joining Atlas in 2004 as a flight and revenue analyst, Broekman has served in roles with increasing responsibility.
He joined the commercial team in 2008 and has served as senior director of commercial development and revenue management, and vice president, commercial development and charter sales.
In 2018, he was named senior vice president, global sales and commercial development.
“Richard brings a strong personal commitment to our company’s mission to be our customers’ first choice and most valued partner,” said Steen. “He is well-respected across the air cargo industry and brings extensive expertise across many facets of the business.
“Under his strong leadership, we look forward to continuing to serve our blue-chip roster of customers with the world class performance that defines Atlas.”
“I am very proud of the role we serve in the global supply chain, and am excited for the opportunity to build on our position as one of the world’s largest freighter operators,” said Broekman.
“It is a great honor to lead this team as we partner with our customers to help them achieve their business goals and deliver on our shared commitments to sustainability and corporate citizenship.”
Conversions will account for over 60% of new freighters over the next 20 years, according to the latest data from Airbus.
In its latest Global Market Forecast (GMF), the airframer predicted there will be global demand for 2,510 freighter aircraft during the period 2023-2042.
920 of these will be newbuild and 1,590 will be conversions.
600 of the total freighter aircraft will be large widebody (> 80 t) aircraft, 890 will be mid-size widebody (40 t – 80 t) aircraft, and 1,020 will be single aisle (10 t-40 t) aircraft.
This will see the world freighter fleet in service reach 3,230 aircraft by 2042.
In its GMF, Airbus predicted demand for 40,850 new passenger & freighter aircraft during the period 2023-2042.
This is 1,360 more than in the 2022 GMF.
The Middle East is due to receive the most passenger and freighter aircraft, followed by Africa, and Europe & CIS.
Growth of express air cargo will exceed general air cargo, said Airbus. In 2019, the express sector comprised 17% of the total air cargo market, while in 2042 it will comprise 25% of the market.