First Air sells one of its Hercules cargo planes

First Air has sold one of its two Hercules aircraft and is in talks to sell the other.

First Air is the only airline in Canada to use Hercules aircraft to deliver cargo. 

Bert van der Stege, one of First Air's vice presidents, says there is just not enough business for two Hercules at this time.

"It's not something that we like to do," he said. "As an airline, you'd like to expand. But at First Air, we'd like to expand at reduced cost and less complexity, and the Hercules operation just became too expensive to sustain."

The almost 40-year-old Hercules was sold for parts and will be leaving at the end of the month.

Van der Stege says the airline is in advanced talks with a potential buyer for the second Hercules. He says if the second Hercules is sold, the airline will look at other options to deliver cargo to customers.