SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (September 26, 2022) – MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA announced that it has started developing a new MSC Air Cargo line on top of its container shipping service. The privately-held giant shipper headquartered in Geneva Switzerland announced an intent to start its air freight service in 2023, with the first of four MSC-branded Boeing 777-200F aircraft to be operated by Atlas Air, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc, headquartered in New York, USA.

Statement by Madeline Rose, Climate Campaigns Director, Pacific Environment:

“We are deeply concerned that Mediterranean Shipping Company, a privately held climate and public health laggard that has done almost nothing decarbonize its existing core business, would move into air freight. The shift from containers to air freight could mean as much as a 100x+ carbon intensity bump per transport mile. With freight demand still booming from the Covid-related e-commerce revolution, today’s announcement by MSC is a clarion call to policymakers – particularly in the U.S. and Europe – that both shipping and aviation must be put on aggressive, mandatory decarbonization pathways now.”

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