In-service 737NG freighter fleet surpasses 100

As the fourth anniversary of the certification of the first 737-800 freighter conversion in April nears, there are now more than 100 737NG freighters in active service around the world. Boeing’s 737-800BCF program certification in April 2018 followed Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) 737-700BDSF certification in the second half of 2017. Since then, three more conversion programs have obtained approval and 737NGs now come in five flavors: IAI’s -700BDSF, PEMCO’s -700FC, Boeing’s -800BCF, IAI’s -800BDSF and Aeronautical Engineers Inc.’s (AEI) -800SF. Cargo Facts counted a total of 104 737NG freighters in the active fleet worldwide as of March 10. These aircraft were in operation with thirty different carriers. Of the -800s, the BCF program has to date produced the most units by far, with seventy freighters in service. Aircraft that have completed conversion but not entered service are not included in our count. 737-700s are far less ubiquitous, only having two conversion programs that have produced ten units in total: eight BDSFs and two FCs. While Amazon’s own-branded aircraft made up around 35% of all 737NG freighters a year ago, as of March 10 the retail giant’s twenty-six dry leased 737-800Fs accounted for exactly a quarter of the global 737NG in-service fleet. [caption id="attachment_417712" align="alignright" width="500"] Chrono Aviation is the first 737-800F operator in Canada. (Photo/Chrono Aviation)[/caption] Ten more carriers have become 737NG freighters since March 2021 and Cargo Facts has already identified several more that will soon join the list: Panama-based Copa Airlines, which committed to two 737-800BCF conversions slots with Boeing ; Tunisia-based Express Air Cargo, which will double its fleet with the addition of two 737-800SFs ; and South Korea-based Jeju Air, which will enter the freighter market with one 737-800BCF . At least nine new 737NG freighter lessors emerged in 2021, accounting for more than forty 737NG conversion orders . They join the likes of AerCap, the largest customer of Boeing’s 737-800BCF with more than seventy orders and options; BBAM, with thirty-one 737-800BCF orders; Aero Capital Solutions, the largest known 737-800SF customer holding a total of thirty-four orders with AEI; and GA Telesis, the second-largest occupier of AEI’s conversion backlog with twelve orders . The U.S is the most populous country in terms of 737NG freighters with thirty, while Europe is the most populous as a region with forty-one units divided across thirteen different operators. Georgia’s three 737NGs have a surprising amount of diversity, each having a different STC and with a different carrier, making the country the third to have at least three operators with 737NG freighters after the U.S. and China, and the second with conversions from more than two different STC holders after the U.S. The number of 737-800 freighters will only grow even faster in the year ahead. AEI boosted its 737-800SF conversion capacity in 2021 with the addition of a fifth conversion site at the HAECO Xiamen facility , joining the Taikoo (Shandong) Aircraft Engineering Company (STAECO) facility in Jinan (TNA), the Commercial Jet facilities in Dothan (DHN) and Miami (MIA), and the KF Aerospace facility in Kelowna (YLW). AEI recently received regulatory approval for its 737-800SF from Transport Canada and the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, and told Cargo Facts it was also seeking approval in other countries including Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia. Boeing, which only passed the fifty-unit milestone in 2021, is well on track to surpass 100 737-800BCF conversions in 2022 given that it could have up to fifteen 737-800BCF conversion lines by the end of 2022 , including new locations at the Cooperativa Autogestionaria de Servicios Aeroindustriales (COOPESA) facility in San Jose (SJO), Costa Rica, and Boeing’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Gatwick Airport (LGW). Boeing had received orders and commitments for more than 200 737-800BCFs from nineteen customers in December 2021. IAI, for its part, began its first 737-800BDSF line at the Atitech facility in Naples (NAP) in December 2021, joining conversion sites in Tel Aviv (TLV), Yichang (YIH), Tianjin (TSN) and Mexico City (MEX). As the -800 adopts a larger role as a freighter aircraft, certain signs are beginning to point at the end of 737 production, to be replaced by a more futuristic aircraft. The Biden administration’s first proposed budget included increased funding for a NASA project to research a more sustainable design for a future aircraft to replace the 737. It is unclear when this aircraft will be introduced, but time will only tell what will happen to the 737 program. Cargo Facts EMEA will take place LIVE May 9-11 in Dubai. Learn more and register.

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