LATAM growing 767 freighter fleet to meet Latin America cargo demand

LATAM Cargo has placed a firm order with Boeing for four 767-300BCF conversions and added options for up to four more, accelerating an expansion plan originally drawn up before the pandemic. [caption id="attachment_74933" align="alignright" width="450"] Photo/LATAM[/caption] LATAM, already the largest major scheduled combination carrier operating 767 freighters, with eleven units, told Air Cargo World that it expects to take redelivery of the four converted freighters between December 2021 and July 2022. The company had already had a fleet growth plan in place in 2019, according to Andres Bianchi, CEO of LATAM Cargo. But LATAM has now sped up that plan by about 50% — mostly a demand-driven decision but also one that was enabled by the increased availability of passenger frames in the wake of the pandemic. Bianchi said it is likely LATAM will exercise at least some of the four options, with tentative redeliveries between 2022 and 2023. This is the second BCF order the carrier has made, after placing a three-unit conversion order in late 2017. The three aircraft were selected from the group’s passenger fleet, with the third completed in December 2019. Like those three aircraft, Bianchi confirmed to our sister publication Cargo Facts that LATAM will be sending its own passenger frames to be converted at the ST Engineering facility in Singapore (QPG). With an even larger fleet of 767-300Fs, which Bianchi calls the “ideal” freighter type for Latin America, LATAM will not only be able to gain a deeper foothold in the major markets it already serves, but also transition some secondary routes into primary lanes. According to Bianchi, the carrier also intends to ramp up frequencies on its European routes and look at expanding beyond Miami, currently the dominant cargo hub for Latin America. Bianchi also said LATAM Cargo is considering other new opportunities stemming from e-commerce growth. This could include ACMI flying for third parties, either domestically or regionally. LATAM is currently still operating up to around eight cargo-only flights with its passenger widebodies, and may reconfigure the 767s destined for conversion by removing seats from the cabin, said Bianchi. At one point last year, most of the airline’s 767-300ERs, 777-300ERs and 787s were allocated to cargo-only flying, but Bianchi said he expects passenger-freighter operations to start diluting during the next few months. LATAM’s Brazilian affiliate also has a single 777F in the Boeing backlog that remains from before the merger of Chile-headquartered LAN and Brazil-based TAM, completed in 2012. LATAM ranked at No. 26 on the most recent edition of Air Cargo World’s Freight 50 ranking of the top cargo carriers based on 2019 traffic, with 3.4 billion total freight tonne kilometers reported for the year.

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