Gemini Air Cargo was an American ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, & Insurance)

cargo airline Cargo airlines (or air freight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline cargo traf ...

headquartered in Dulles,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

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. It operated worldwide cargo schedules and charters on a

wet-lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

basis. Its main bases were

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and

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

History

Gemini Air Cargo McDonnell Douglas MD-11F Bidini

The airline was established in December 1995 by William Stockbridge, with financial backing from Lehman Brothers and Green Tree Capital. It began operations as an ACMI (Aircraft, Crews, Maintenance, Insurance) using DC-10-30F aircraft which were obtained from Lufthansa and converted to cargo configuration by Aeronavali in Venice. Prior to obtaining its own FAR Part 121 certificate, Gemini operated with crews from

Sun Country Airlines Sun Country Airlines is an American ultra-low-cost passenger and cargo airline, and the eleventh largest in the US by passengers carried. Based at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport with headquarters on airport property, Sun Coun ...

under Sun Country's certificate for several months before certification in October 1996. In July 1999 the airline was acquired by the Carlyle Group. In August 2006 the airline emerged from bankruptcy reorganization in a debt restructuring involving a DIP (debtor in position) and exchange of debt for equity with Bayside Capital. Bayside had pledged to grow Gemini and take advantage of the fast-growing cargo market into the next two decades. However, in the early summer of 2008 Gemini filed again for

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protection. The reasons were to be found in the sudden

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increase that hit hard the thirsty

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the Douglas DC-8, DC-8 for long-Range (aeronautics), range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; i ...

fleet and the

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. Gemini Air Cargo ceased operations the evening of August 12, 2008, and the airline later confirmed that month it was in

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

. As of December 2008, Gemini Air Cargo was purchased by Gemini Worldwide Holdings LLC with plans to start a new cargo/passenger service as Gemini Worldwide Airways. Operations have not started as of mid 2015.

Destinations

Gemini Air Cargo operated the following scheduled flights (as of January 2005):

National

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Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

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Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and

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International

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

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Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, Medellin,

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Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

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, and

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Fleet

The Gemini Air Cargo fleet consisted of: * 12

* 4

McDonnell Douglas MD-11F The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American tri-jet wide-body airliner manufactured by American McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and later by Boeing. Following DC-10 development studies, the MD-11 program was launched on December 30, 1986. Assembly of t ...

References

External links

* Defunct airlines of the United States Defunct cargo airlines Airlines established in 1995 Airlines disestablished in 2008 Companies based in Dulles, Virginia Defunct companies based in Virginia Cargo airlines of the United States Airlines based in Virginia {{US-airline-stub