| |||||||
| Founded | 1976 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | |||||||
| Fleet size | 1 | ||||||
| Destinations | 4 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel | ||||||
| Website | cal-cargo.com | ||||||
Challenge Airlines IL, formerly CAL Cargo Airlines Ltd. (Hebrew: ק.א.ל. קווי אוויר למטען), is a cargo airline with its corporate headquarters in Shoham, Israel.
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 issued in early 1999.
In 1997, CAL purchased LACHS cargo terminal in Belgium (Liège Airport Cargo Handling Services), which is still fully owned and operated by CAL, and 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 JFK/TLV.
In 2019, the airline made news headlines for buying a Boeing 747 on Chinese e-commerce website Taobao.com for around US $23,3 million.[citation needed]
The airline operates daily scheduled cargo flights and charter services carrying nonstandard goods and general cargo internationally. Its main base is Ben Gurion Airport, serving Tel Aviv, and it has a hub at Liège Airport (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 including fine art.[1] The company slogan is Challenge accepted.
Challenge IL operates freight services to the following scheduled destinations (as of April 2023).
| Country | City | Airport | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Liège | Liège Airport | Hub | |
| Cyprus | Larnaca | Larnaca International Airport | ||
| China | Zhengzhou | Zhengzhou International Airport | ||
| Israel | Tel Aviv | Ben Gurion Airport | Hub | |
| Norway | Oslo | Oslo Airport, Gardermoen |
The CAL Cargo Air Lines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2022):[2][3][needs update]
| Aircraft | In fleet | Orders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 747-400ERF | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 1 | 0 |
| Aircraft | Total | Year introduced | Year retired | Replacement | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 707 | 1 | 1986 | 1987 | Boeing 747-200F | [4] | |
| Boeing 747-100F | 1 | 1993 | 1993 | None | Leased from Atlas Air | [5] |
| Boeing 747-200F | 4 | 1999 | 2017 | Boeing 747-400F | One aircraft was written off in a landing accident in Liège Airport. | [6][7][8] |
| Boeing 747-400BCF | 1 | 2016 | 2019 | None | Transferred to Challenge Airlines. | [citation needed] |
| Boeing 747-400ERF | 2 | 2019 | 2022 | None | Transferred to Challenge Airlines. | [citation needed] |
