777 Freighter milestone for Emirates

Emirates took delivery of a 777F today. Nothing unusual in that, as the Dubai-based carrier has, over the last few years, taken delivery of twelve other 777Fs. But this one was different, and special in more than one way.

First, this freighter (taken on lease from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise) is the last 777F Emirates has on order, and gives Emirates the largest 777F fleet among non-Express airlines. Neighbor and competitor Qatar Airways, with eight 777Fs in its fleet now, and eight more on order, will eventually take the crown from Emirates, but that will probably not happen for another two years.

Second, the 777F was only one of three 777s handed over to Emirates this morning, as the carrier also took delivery of two 777-300ER passenger aircraft – a very rare triple delivery. Boeing said this was the first time in fifteen years it had delivered three 777s simultaneously to one customer.

And third, this was the 150^th 777 to enter Emirates fleet. Emirates is by far the world’s largest 777 operator, and the only airline that has operated all six of the 777 variants.

But this was not the only 777F delivered today, as Saudia Cargo took the second of four it has on order. Boeing continues to show the order as being from “Unidentified Customer(s),” but regardless of the signature on the official order, the freighters are being operated by Saudia Cargo, in Saudia Cargo livery.

As shown in the chart, Boeing has taken orders for 169 777Fs, and has delivered 113, leaving a backlog of 56. As to operators, we point out the following:

• Three of the five ordered by Air France were sold to FedEx either on or before delivery, So Air France operates just two, while FedEx currently operates twenty-six.
• The eight ordered by Deucalion Capital were all leased to AeroLogic (a 50/50 joint venture of Lufthansa Cargo and DHL), which continues to operate them.
• Of the ten 777Fs ordered by GECAS, six are leased to China Cargo Airlines, and two each to Ethiopian Airlines and LAN Airlines (now LATAM). So Ethiopian and LATAM now both operate four, and Ethiopian has two more on order.
• The three 777Fs so far delivered to Guggenheim Aviation Partners are all operated by TNT Airways. They are now owned by Titan Aviation Leasing (a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings), which bought them from Guggenheim.
• The four units delivered to Oak Hill Capital Partners are operated by Southern Air, for DHL (which bought them from Oak Hill).