Freighter orders, deliveries slow in 1Q19

[caption id="attachment_294408" align="alignright" width="377"] Orders for production widebody freighters slowed during the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2018. China Southern Cargo, bucking the trend, converted an existing order for two 777-300ERs to the 777F.[/caption] Freighter orders and deliveries fell 5.6% last quarter to 14 deliveries and redeliveries of production freighters and freighter conversions, Cargo Facts reports. Cargo Facts tracks global freighter aircraft transactions in its FAT database here . Starting with orders for production and converted freighters during 1Q19, totals were significantly slower than during 1Q18, when fifty-two orders or letters of intent were reported. Only fourteen total orders – ten production and four conversion orders – were placed, including: Six large widebodies, for four 747-8Fs and two 777Fs; Five medium widebodies, for four production 767-300Fs and one 767-300ER conversion; and Three narrowbody conversion orders, for two 737-700Fs and one 737-800F. Unfortunately, the destination for a majority of the orders (nearly all the production freighter orders) has not been confirmed, as Boeing did not identify its customers for the four 747-8F or four 767-300F orders. Cargo Facts suspected when the 747-8F orders were revealed that they could be part of the order placed by Volga-Dnepr Group in mid-2018, which never appeared in Boeing’s order book, but that has yet to be confirmed. The unknown customer for the 767-300Fs, on the other hand, may well be FedEx , considering the express operator makes up most of Boeing’s current backlog for the type. Regarding the two remaining production freighter orders, those 777Fs will eventually be delivered to China Southern Airlines, which is also the only known combination carrier and Asia-Pacific carrier to have placed freighter orders during 1Q. In March, the carrier converted an outstanding order for two 777-300ERs to the freighter variant. Turning to conversion orders, the 767-300ER (27686) passenger-to-freighter conversion from DHL is undergoing conversion with Bedek at the Mexicana facility in Mexico City. Bahrain-based Chisholm Enterprises, parent of charter operator, Texel Air, placed the launch order for two 737-700 freighter conversions with PEMCO, as announced at Cargo Facts EMEA in Frankfurt earlier this year. Finally, the 737-800 conversion order with Boeing came from GECAS, and was the first of at least five , and up to twenty, of the type that will be operated by Southern Air in the United States for Amazon Air. Shifting now to deliveries and redeliveries during the period, we’ll start with redeliveries of freighter conversions. A total of eleven freighter conversions were redelivered to seven carriers during 1Q19. Looking at redeliveries by size category, the breakdown is as follows: Zero large widebodies Four medium widebodies, three freighter-converted 767-300Fs and one A330-200P2F. Seven narrowbodies and regional jets, three freighter-converted 737-800s, two 757-200PCFs and one each of MD-80 and CRJ200 freighter conversions. Of the eleven freighters redelivered during the first quarter, distribution of redeliveries by region was pretty balanced. Carriers based in the regions Africa, Asia, and North America each took redelivery of three freighters, while carriers based in Europe added two freighters. Mexico-based Aeronaves TSM took redelivery of two freighters, while Cargojet in Canada added a single 767-300BDSF. In Africa, Ethiopian Airlines took redelivery of two 737-800SFs and EgyptAir added an A330-200P2F . In Asia, China-based SF Airlines took redelivery of three aircraft; two 757-200PCFs, and a 767-300BCF. In Europe, West Atlantic added a 737-800BCF, and DHL Express, a 757-200PCF. Looking at the freighter redeliveries by carrier type, the majority of the freightes added during the quarter were redelivered directly to express carriers, or carriers operating on their behalf (specialist/ACMI carriers). Four freighter conversions were redelivered to express carriers; three to SF and one to DHL. An equal number went to specialist carriers, with Aeronaves TSM taking two, and Cargojet and West Atlantic each taking one. Combination carriers, meanwhile, added three freighters – two went to Ethiopian, and one to EgyptAir. Turning now to production freighter deliveries during the period, a total of seven aircraft were delivered to just three carriers. Of the seven deliveries, four were large widebodies comprising three 777Fs and a 747-8F, and three were medium-widebody freighters, all of which were 767-300Fs. The majority of production freighters – five in total – went to carriers based in North America, while carriers based in Europe took the remaining two. This is no coincidence as five of the production widebody freighters were delivered to express carriers based in the United States, with UPS adding a 747-8F, and FedEx adding three 777Fs and a 767-300F. Germany-based combination carrier Lufthansa Cargo and its ACMI/specialist cargo affiliate that is a 50/50 JV with DHL also each added a 777F. Each reference to a freighter aircraft transaction (FAT) in our publications contains a unique FAT code linked to the FAT database on the CargoFacts.com website. This database is available to subscribers as an interactive tool on our website, and you can go to it from the “FAT Data” tab at the top of the home page, or directly here .

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