Widebody freighter fleet swells amid sustained market boom

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Despite what appeared to be the beginning of a recovery in many passenger aviation markets around the world in 2021, the demand for dedicated main-deck lift showed no signs of relenting, and was further boosted by severe disruptions in maritime shipping. As a result, the world’s widebody freighter aircraft were busier than ever, crisscrossing the skies to serve all manner of trade lanes. New deliveries and fresh conversions were quickly put to work, while more units that had been previously dormant joined the fray. Cargo Facts counted a total of 1,285 widebody jet freighters in service with eighty carriers or carrier groups as of Jan. 28, 2022, compared with 1,218 units twelve months ago. This represents a year-on-year growth of 5.4%, much higher than the 3.6% recorded this time last year. Our analysis explores the changes that have occurred to the global in-service fleet of widebody freighters during the past twelve months — and those on order — taking a closer look at differences in terms of manufacturer, carrier region and operator type. We note that for the purposes of this analysis only commercial widebody jet freighters built by Boeing, Airbus and McDonnell Douglas are included. With regard to the operators, the categories we have used in this analysis are: combination carriers that operate both scheduled passenger and freighter flights, such as Qatar Airways and China Airlines; express carriers with their own AOCs like FedEx Express and UPS; scheduled all-cargo carriers that only have freighters, including AirBridgeCargo and Silk Way West Airlines; and specialist cargo carriers that mostly operate freighters on an ACMI or CMI basis, such as Air Transport Services Group and Atlas Air. We have marked with an asterisk in the table those airlines and affiliates that belong to the same parent group or those with common investors.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width="stretch_row_content" vc_row_background="" css=".vc_custom_1645242387790{padding-right: 50px !important;padding-left: 50px !important;}"][vc_column][vc_column_text] Widebody freighter fleet as of Jan. 28, 2022 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_column_text] Yet more heavies come out of hibernation Even with the ten or so 747s that were reactivated in 2020, 2021 saw yet more of the quad jets leaving storage and reentering service. With 747-400s becoming increasingly scarce, U.A.E.-based Global Service Solutions in early 2021 elected to bring a 1981-vintage production 747-200F (22545, ex-Air Georgia) back into service after being parked for two years. Unit 22545 is operated by Moldova-based Fly Pro, along with GSS’ other 747, a 1987-vintage converted 747-200F (23813, ex-The Cargo Airlines). [caption id="attachment_417574" align="alignright" width="560"] Unit 25452 was previously with Asiana Airlines. (Photo/Western Global Airlines)[/caption] Meanwhile, U.S.-based National Airlines got creative and acquired a rather unique 747-400BCF. The 1991-vintage aircraft (25308, ex-Evergreen International Airlines) had spent close to the previous five years as a firefighter with Global SuperTanker Services. National Airlines brought unit 25308 to the VT San Antonio Aerospace facility in San Antonio (SAT) in late May to unmodify the aircraft that had been adapted to dispense water and fire retardant from its belly. The 747 finally began flying in September in a special red livery to mark the carrier’s thirtieth anniversary. Another 747 that exited long-term storage was the 1992-vintage unit 25452, a -400BDSF that Asiana Airlines had parked in Victorville (VCV) since 2017. The aircraft was acquired by Western Global Airlines, which has also put into service one of three MD-11Fs that it purchased from Lufthansa in 2021. Apart from Western Global, FedEx also reactivated three MD-11Fs in 2021 to meet the surge in demand and at the end of the year sent another ex-Lufthansa MD-11F from VCV to its own MRO facility in Los Angeles (LAX) to prepare it for service. There are multiple other 747s that are in the process of rejoining the active fleet and therefore do not yet appear on our list. These include the two 747-8Fs that had not flown with Saudia since January 2020 and will soon begin operations with Air Belgium on a CMI basis for China-based Hongyuan Group, and the two ex-China Airlines production -400Fs that have been stored at VCV for almost ten years and are being leased by JetOneX. New players Several carriers have newly become widebody freighter operators since January 2021, growing the total number of airlines or airline groups to seventy-nine. [caption id="attachment_417575" align="alignleft" width="560"] Unit 24458 is now in operation with ROM Cargo. (Photo/Cologne Bonn Airport)[/caption] The only new carrier that added more than a single widebody was Air Belgium. The airline did not have any freighters before 2021 but quickly took on four production A330-200Fs and now operates them on a CMI basis for France-based CMA CGM, which had purchased them from Qatar Airways. Two operators each also began flying their first freighter in the form of 747s. Elit’Avia, a private jet company based in Slovenia, placed a 747-400BDSF (27044, ex-Air Atlanta Icelandic) on its Malta-based AOC in the final quarter of 2021. The aircraft had been idled in Kansas City (MCI) for several years and was acquired by U.A.E.-based Quick Link Aviation Services, which then placed it with Elit’Avia for CMI operation. The other 747 is a -400BCF (24458, ex-Thai Airways) that Aerotranscargo reactivated and sent to Jakarta (CGK) for maintenance in the first half of 2021, but it wasn’t until late in the year that unit 24458 began flying with Romania-based ROM Cargo, which is leasing it from Aerotranscargo. Astral Aviation, Air Canada and YTO Cargo Airlines have all become new 767 operators, with Astral leasing a -200BDSF from Cargo Aircraft Management, and Air Canada and YTO each taking the first of at least two -300BDSFs. Lastly, U.K.-based Titan Airways began A330-300P2F CMI operations with unit 713 (ex-AirAsia X) around September 2021. The aircraft had spent just over a year with Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) in Dresden (DRS) for conversion and is being leased by France-based Geodis for its own-controlled network.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="417572" img_size="full" alignment="center"][vc_column_text] Large and medium closer to parity The 1,284 widebody freighters in service toward the end of January 2022 consisted of 653 large widebodies — ranging from the 747-8F to the MD-10-30F — and 631 in the medium segment, which ranges from the A330-300P2F down to the A310-300F. Compared with twelve months ago, the two segments each grew by 3.2% and 7.9%, respectively. In the large widebody segment the growth in the number of in-service aircraft was due mostly to new deliveries of 747-8Fs and 777Fs along with some reactivations of 747s and MD-11s. However, with medium widebodies the increase was equally due to new 767-300F deliveries and conversions of 767-300s and A330-300s. In 2021, the slightly higher proportion of medium widebodies joining the active global fleet brings that size segment closer to the large widebody category, as they accounted for 49.1% and 50.9% of the overall fleet, respectively. Notable is that the MD-10-10F no longer appears in our tally since FedEx retired its four remaining units in 2021. The integrator — the only operator of the type — announced in 1996 an upgrade program with McDonnell Douglas to equip its DC-10s with MD-11-style cockpits, renaming the aircraft as MD-10s. The final aircraft to leave the fleet was the 1978-vintage unit 46947, which arrived at VCV in June 2021. Orders finally come with more variety As of late January 2022, there were 146 production widebody freighters on firm order, consisting of eighty-three large and sixty-three medium widebodies. The backlog is significantly larger than one year ago, when there were fifty-three large widebodies and forty-three medium widebodies on order. The most important difference in production freighter orders is that the options are no longer only from Boeing; Airbus’ launch of its new A350F in mid-2021 means the European manufacturer for the first time made a contribution to the number of large widebodies on order, with seven on firm order from Air Lease Corporation and four from CMA CGM. The total backlog does not include the massive deal for thirty-four aircraft that Qatar Airways signed with Boeing on Jan. 31, 2022, to launch the new 777-8F program, the latest entry to the large widebody category. Although the difference between the percentages of large and medium production widebodies on order is larger than between the shares of in-service aircraft, respectively, the larger numbers of conversion orders for A330s and 767s will help to offset that imbalance and maintain the two subsegments at around 50% each.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="417573" img_size="full" alignment="center"][vc_column_text] Express keeps growing The share of widebody freighters — whether large or medium — in operation with express carriers continues to expand. The large category grew from around 33% in late January 2021 to 34% twelve months later due to new 747-8F and 777F deliveries, while the medium category grew by around 0.2 percentage points thanks to conversions of 767s and, to a lesser extent, A330s. Due to that growth, the relative shares of the three other categories in the large widebody segment all decreased. When it comes to new orders, we have now added the “lessor” category in order to offer more clarity and to distinguish those aircraft for which the end lessee or operator is not yet known. With that change, the proportions of large widebodies on order from combination carriers, express carriers and specialist carriers fell somewhat but scheduled all-cargo carriers increased, with A350Fs and 777Fs on order for Volga-Dnepr, CMA CGM and Silk Way West. More than 90% of the medium widebodies on order are now attributed to express carriers. More specifically, apart from five 767-300Fs for an undisclosed customer, all the 767-300Fs Boeing had left to deliver in late January 2022 will join either FedEx or UPS. North America and Europe inch ahead In terms of the geographic markets in which operators are based, North America and Europe saw their shares of the overall in-service fleet creep upward by 0.24 and 0.19 percentage points, respectively. While North American carriers — perhaps unsurprisingly — controlled a slightly higher proportion of the large widebody fleet, it was operators domiciled in Europe and Asia Pacific that recorded year-on-year growth in their share of medium widebodies in service. In particular, Air Belgium, DHL’s EAT Leipzig, MNG Airlines and Titan Airways all began operating A330-200Fs or A330-300P2Fs in 2021, and carriers like Sky Taxi, Star Air, DHL Air, Raya Airways and SF Airlines added more 767Fs to their operations. Looking ahead, it is likely the widebody freighter fleet in active service around the world will continue to register net growth throughout 2022, given the continued strength of the market and the substantial orderbooks for both production freighters and conversions at Boeing, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and EFW that will produce 747-8Fs, 777Fs, 767-300BCFs, 767-300BDSFs, A330-300P2Fs and A330-200P2Fs in the months to come. This story originally appeared in the February 2022 issue of Cargo Facts . Cargo Facts EMEA will take place LIVE May 9-11 in Dubai. Learn more and register. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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