Challenge Airlines IL explained

Airline:Challenge Airlines
Fleet Size:1
Destinations:4
Iata:5C
Icao:ICL
Callsign:CAL
Founded:1976
Headquarters:Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel
Hubs:

Challenge Airlines IL,[1] formerly CAL Cargo Airlines Ltd. (Hebrew: ק.א.ל. קווי אוויר למטען), is a cargo airline with its corporate headquarters in Shoham, Israel.

History

CAL was established in June 1976, starting charter operations in November of that year. Originally, the airline leased aircraft from El Al as required; however, on 1 December 1999, it began operating scheduled services using its own aircraft following receipt of Israeli government licences.

In 1997, CAL purchased the Liège Airport Cargo Handling Services (LACHS) cargo terminal in Belgium. The facility, which is still fully owned and operated by CAL, caters to CAL's specialty in nonstandard cargo. In 2010, CAL was purchased privately by Offer Gilboa and expanded its flight operations to include daily flights to and from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport and New York's John F Kennedy International Airport.

In 2017, the airline made news headlines for buying a Boeing 747 on Chinese e-commerce website Taobao.com for around US$23.3 million.

Operations

Challenge IL operates daily scheduled cargo flights and charter services carrying nonstandard goods and general cargo internationally. Its main base is Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport and it has a hub at Liège Airport in Belgium. The airline carries approximately 100,000 tons of cargo annually, including all categories of nonstandard cargo: temperature-controlled pharmaceutical and healthcare products, live animals, dangerous goods, oversize and overweight cargo, fresh perishable products, and valuable goods such as fine art.[2] The company slogan is Challenge accepted.

Destinations

Challenge IL operates freight services to the following scheduled destinations (as of May 2024).

CountryCityAirportNotesRefs
BelgiumLiègeLiège Airport
ChinaZhengzhouZhengzhou International Airport
IsraelTel AvivBen Gurion Airport

Fleet

Current fleet

The CAL Cargo Air Lines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2022):[3] [4]

Retired fleet

CAL Airlines historic fleet
AircraftTotalYear introducedYear retiredReplacementNotesRefs
Boeing 707119861987Boeing 747-200F[5]
Boeing 747-100F119931993NoneLeased from Atlas Air[6]
Boeing 747-200F419992017Boeing 747-400FOne aircraft was written off in a landing accident in Liège Airport.[7] [8] [9]
Boeing 747-400BCF120162019NoneTransferred to Challenge Airlines BE.
Boeing 747-400ERF220192022NoneTransferred to Challenge Airlines BE.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jeffrey . Rebecca . 2022-06-13 . CAL Cargo becomes Challenge Airlines IL . 2024-05-16 . Air Cargo News . en.
  2. Web site: CAL - Cargo Air lines - Company Profile . 2008-03-06 . 2009-02-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090220230444/http://www.cal.co.il/about/?id=1 . dead .
  3. Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One) . Airliner World . October 2019 . 17.
  4. Web site: Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map.
  5. Web site: מרקיע שחקים - בואינג 4X-Atx 707 . 2018-12-07 . 2018-12-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181209080238/http://www.sky-high.co.il/134771/%D7%91%D7%95%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%92-4x-atx-707 . dead .
  6. Web site: Stop Spammers.
  7. https://reports.aviation-safety.net/2003/20031001-0_B742_4X-ICM.pdf
  8. Web site: מרקיע שחקים - עודכן! בואינג 4X-Icl 747 . 2018-12-07 . 2018-12-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181207150013/http://www.sky-high.co.il/134771/%D7%91%D7%95%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%92-4x-icl-747 . dead .
  9. Web site: מרקיע שחקים - בואינג 4X-Ico 747 . 2018-12-07 . 2018-12-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181207145630/http://www.sky-high.co.il/%D7%91%D7%95%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%92-4x-ico-747.html . dead .