Top widebody freighter developments of 2021

2021 was, in some ways, an even more eventful year than 2020 when it came to freighter aircraft, with new aircraft, new programs, new customers and new players. We continue our look back at the key happenings in the industry, turning our focus to the top ten developments in the widebody freighter segment. Airbus doubles down on A350 freighter program [caption id="attachment_417216" align="alignright" width="380"] Photo/Airbus[/caption] July saw Airbus move forward with plans to develop a freighter version of the A350 , followed by skepticism from the international community given that the manufacturer did not announce a launch customer. The first letter of intent (LOI) came from Air Lease Corporation (ALC) at the Dubai Airshow in November and included a commitment for seven aircraft. Later that same month, French shipping group CMA CGM signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airbus to purchase four A350Fs. But it was not until December that Airbus finally announced deals with established combination carriers. First was Singapore Airlines, which signed an LOI for seven units and five options to replace its seven production 747-400Fs, citing fuel efficiency as one of the primary factors. Air France-KLM followed by announcing an LOI to purchase four A350Fs , with options for an additional four units. Air France-KLM told Cargo Facts that if it firms up the order, it expects to take delivery of the A350Fs from 2028 to replace its current two 777Fs. Both ALC and CMA CGM finalized their orders in December. Atlas Air and Volga-Dnepr acquire more leased 747s Two significant 747 operators have made moves to secure more of the large widebody freighters, reflecting their optimism in the prospects of the market. Atlas Air in October purchased three additional 747-400Fs it had originally been leasing, adding to three previous 747-400Fs it acquired between May and August. Atlas Air’s owned 747 fleet will grow further when it purchases five more 747-400Fs it already operates at the end of their lease terms from March to December 2022, and when it takes delivery of the last four 747-8Fs from May through October. Meanwhile, the Russia-based Volga-Dnepr Group acquired two 747-8Fs previously on a finance lease from Voyager Aviation Holdings and told Cargo Facts that it plans to convert more of the operating leases for its 747-8Fs and 747-400Fs into finance leases, giving it the option to purchase the asset at the end of the lease term. As a sign of how much the market has changed over the course of the past two years, Atlas had parked four of its converted 747Fs around the end of 2019 while Volga-Dnepr had been looking to cut its 747 fleet in early 2020. Cargojet’s multidirectional expansion [caption id="attachment_417217" align="alignright" width="400"] Photo/Cargojet[/caption] Canada-based Cargojet in January announced it would expand its freighter fleet with five 767Fs and two 777s . The 777s, a first for the carrier, are set to arrive in 2023. Together, the seven new aircraft will enable the carrier to open new international routes, the carrier said. Cargojet sent two 767-300ERs to Tel Aviv (TLV) for conversion with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in April and November, respectively, with the others to follow in 2022. The 777s would later turn out to be two 777-200LRMFs, with Cargojet becoming the launch customer of Mammoth Freighters’ new conversion program . As part of the deal, announced in November, Cargojet also holds options for two more 777-200LRMFs and two 777-300ERMFs. Meanwhile, Amazon in July placed two owned 767-300BDSFs with Cargojet for the launch of CMI operations in Canada. The freighters will operate in the Cargojet fleet for at least four years, and up to ten. A month later, Cargojet announced a 25% stake in U.S.-based 21 Air , allowing the Canadian carrier to expand its international operations within the United States by leveraging 21 Air’s cabotage rights. Geodis begins own-controlled freighter ops Cargo Facts reported in August that an A330-300P2F had emerged sporting French forwarder Geodis’ official logo and colors . Geodis later announced that it had secured the aircraft for a lease term of at least five years and will utilizing it as part of an expansion to its dedicated AirDirect and Air Charter services. Geodis, like other forwarders, has increased its reliance on charter capacity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During a webinar with our sister publication Air Cargo World earlier in the year, Senior Vice President of Global Airfreight Stanislas Brun said Geodis is exploring different programs to compensate for a lack of bellyhold capacity, and will continue to do so as long as necessary. The A330 is in CMI operation with U.K.-based Titan Airways. A few freighters retire, but many others are brought back into service Just like in 2020, freighters — particularly 747s — previously idled continued to reenter service. [caption id="attachment_417218" align="alignright" width="400"] Photo/National Airlines[/caption] This even included a nose-loading 747-200F that had been in storage for two years. The aircraft is owned by U.A.E.-based Global Service Solutions and in CMI operation with Moldova-based Fly Pro. After a year and a half of inaction, Turkey’s ACT Airlines’ production 747-400F returned to service in June after a tail strike in early 2020. Other 747s that have returned to the air include the Global SuperTanker 747-400BCF that National Airlines purchased; a 747-400BDSF owned by U.A.E.-based Quick Link Aviation Services; an ex-Asiana Airlines 747-400BDSF now flying with Western Global Airlines ; as well as an ex-Korean Air 747-400BCF and an ex-EVA Air 747-400BDSF that left the desert after at least four years and have been in Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN) and Jakarta (CGK) for maintenance since July and September, respectively. Meanwhile, FedEx, which in June retired the last operational MD-10-10F after sending two others to Victorville (VCV) for permanent storage in May, brought three MD-11Fs back from VCV into service just in time for the peak. Western Global Airlines also bought three MD-11Fs from Lufthansa and put the first into service in December. Amazon puts owned 767s into service Amazon in March placed its first owned 767-300BDSF with ATSG affiliate Air Transport International (ATI) . This was the first of eleven 767-300ERs that Amazon had purchased outright ahead of conversion with IAI. Apart from the two it had placed with Cargojet in Canada, Amazon recently placed the fourth ex-WestJet 767 with ATI in December. The question of where the remaining seven ex-Delta aircraft will be placed will begin to be answered in 2022. U.A.E.-based 777Fs on the move [caption id="attachment_417219" align="alignright" width="400"] Photo/Lufthansa Cargo[/caption] Amid the current tight market conditions, a young widebody freighter is a valuable commodity, so it’s no surprise that two 777Fs that became available have quickly found new homes with existing operators of the type. The first was a unit that U.A.E.-based Etihad Airways sold to FedEx in January, reducing its freighter fleet to five 777Fs. FedEx confirmed to Cargo Facts that the acquisition of the 777F was not previously planned. The integrator had not been expecting to take delivery of any of the type until the beginning of fiscal year 2022. Eight months later, Lufthansa picked up an ex-Emirates 777F that had come off lease with DAE Capital. The delivery marked the German carrier’s tenth 777F, and the first used 777F to join its fleet on lease. The move leaves Emirates with ten 777Fs. ATSG to diversify its freighter leasing offerings Air Transport Services Group’s Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM) division will be converting twenty A330s with Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) as it follows “the natural progression of growth,” according to the company. ATSG told Cargo Facts that the conversions will begin mid-2023 and run through 2025, with the majority likely to take place at EFW’s facility in Dresden (DRS). CAM, the largest lessor of 767 freighters, said it is still committed to the platform and holds around thirty 767 conversion slots with IAI and confirmed the 767 will remain its primary freighter. The company later announced that it would convert at least four 767-300ERs with Boeing . CMA CGM adds widebodies to growing air cargo unit [caption id="attachment_417220" align="alignright" width="400"] Photo/Boeing[/caption] France-based shipping group CMA CGM, which had no freighters to speak of when 2021 started, announced in February that it would purchase four A330-200Fs for its newly created air cargo division. The ex-Qatar Airways units are now in CMI operation with Air Belgium. Shortly after we reported in September that CMA CGM will obtain its own air operator certificate and launch its own airline with 777Fs in 2022, the company announced an order with Boeing for two new 777Fs for delivery in Spring 2022 . The logistics group will become the world’s twenty-first 777F operator. But CMA CGM did not stop there. In November the company became the second known customer to commit to Airbus’ new A350F program with an MoU for four aircraft . CMA CGM, which firmed up the order in December, confirmed to Cargo Facts that it will place the A350Fs on its own certificate and that it will also operate a reconfigured A330-200 passenger freighter before converting it into a full freighter. DHL assigns new 767 conversions to Bahrain DHL Express has almost completed the upgrade of its Middle East fleet in Bahrain . The integrator, which previously had six 767-200BDSFs with DHL International, confirmed to Cargo Facts that it would return three of the older aircraft off lease and add seven newer 767-300Fs. The 767s are a mix of BCFs and BDSFs, with DHL having ordered five 767-300BCF conversions with Boeing and three 767-300BDSF conversions with IAI in 2020. One BCF entered service with Panama-based DHL Aero Expreso earlier in 2021. Six of the seven 767-300s have now started flying with DHL International, with the final unit leaving Mexico City (MEX) in December and arriving in Shannon (SNN) for paint and maintenance. DHL International’s fleet will consist of four 767-300BCFs, three 767-300BDSFs and three 767-200BDSFs, with an average age at least ten years younger than before the upgrade. DHL has since ordered nine more 767-300BCF conversions with Boeing.

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