Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings made a net income of US$41.5 million in 2016, an increase of 470% compared to 2015, according to financial results released by the company.

“2016 was a historic year for Atlas, and we finished it on a strong note,” said William J. Flynn, president and chief executive officer. “We acquired Southern Air, expanding the array of aircraft and services that we provide, especially to the fast-growing express market. We entered into strategic, long-term agreements with Amazon to serve its rapidly growing e-commerce business. And we generated strong sequential and year-over-year improvements in our block-hour volumes, revenue, profitability and margins in the fourth quarter. In addition to record revenues in the quarter, we delivered a significant increase in reported earnings and record adjusted earnings for the period.”

Atlas Air operated a total of 210,444 block hours in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 18.2%.

Net income for the last three months of 2016 was US$28.4 million, compared to a loss of US$37.6 million in the same period in 2015.

Flynn said that the performance in the fourth quarter reflected a solid peak season and improved yields, driven by additional seasonal flying for express operators, growing e-commerce demand and a lower level of maintenance expense.

“In ACMI, we benefited from Southern Air’s 777 and 737 express CMI services and better contributions and synergies than originally anticipated,” he said. “We also continued ramping up for Amazon, which enabled us to place the second of 20 767-300 aircraft into service for them this month. In charter, our results reflected an increase in commercial cargo demand. And our dry leasing business maintained its steady, annuity-like performance.”

He added that the expanding business base and the ongoing development of its strategic platform mean that Atlas is well-positioned to grow earnings in 2017.

“In addition to the demand we are seeing for our aircraft and services, including our recently announced agreements with Asiana Cargo, Nippon Cargo Airlines and FedEx, we expect to see initial accretion from our operations for Amazon and a full year of contribution from Southern Air in 2017,” Flynn said. “We expect those positives to be partially offset by an increase in maintenance expense and lower cost-based rates paid by the military. As a result, we expect to increase adjusted income from continuing operations, net of taxes, by a mid-single-digit to low-double-digit percentage in 2017.”