Emirates removes another 777F; charters more capacity from Etihad

[caption id="attachment_407698" align="alignright" width="354"] And then there were eleven. Emirates this month returned a 777F off-lease to DAE Capital.[/caption] Emirates this month withdrew from service another 777F (35607) which was on lease from Dubai-based DAE Capital [FAT 00 4911 ]. A senior executive with the carrier confirmed to Cargo Facts that the aircraft will be leaving the fleet shortly and that, effective from this summer, the own-operated EK freighter fleet will consist of eleven 777Fs.

In a move that closely resembles a transaction which occurred in April when Emirates returned a leased 777F to Titan Aviation Holdings (35606), it appears that Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways almost immediately began supplementing lost capacity with charter flights for Emirates. Based on data from Flightradar24 , the recently parked 777F (35607) last flew on 3 June, operating a test flight around Dubai. This week, an Etihad-operated 777F (39682) began flying between Dubai (DWC) and Hong Kong (HKG), joining a 777F which Etihad had previously begun operating for Emirates ( 60509 ) [FAT 00 4913 ].

Changes to Emirates’ 777F fleet follow the carrier’s 2017 decision not to keep two ACMI-leased 747-400ERFs that had been operated by TNT Airways for nearly a decade. Is this a sign more fleet changes are on the horizon? Emirates told Cargo Facts that, as leases on its own freighters start to expire, it would look at alternatives to renewing these dry leases , one example being to charter or ACMI-lease capacity instead. As it stands now , Emirates leases capacity on up to three aircraft – two Etihad 777Fs and one Cargolux 747F.

See also: The Widebody freighter fleet: growth returns If Emirates’ first two expired 777F leases are representative of the remaining eleven freighters in the SkyCargo fleet , it would suggest a proclivity for a 10 -year lease. Unit 35607 was delivered to Emirates in June 2009 and is therefore being taken out of the fleet upon expiry of a 10-year lease, just as 35606 was in March 2019. The oldest remaining 777F operating in Emirates’ fleet rolled off the assembly line less than eight years ago, meaning that no further lease expiries are expected for a few years.

During a media briefing at the recent Air Cargo Europe 2019 event in Munich, Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice president of Emirates SkyCargo, said that the carrier needed to be vigilant given the headwinds the industry is currently facing and reassess its capacity. “ We had already reduced our capacity last year from fifteen to twelve freighters ,” he said . “ We need to probably reevaluate some of that capacity once again, looking at some of th e changes that are taking place. ”

Cargo Facts would not be surprised if further rationalization is made to the SkyCargo fleet, considering the large numbers of cargo-friendly widebody aircraft Emirates has on order, including the 777X , which is due to enter the fleet in 2020 .

Interested in how the global freighter fleet will develop over the next 20 years? The Cargo Facts Consulting 2019 Freighter Forecast is available now. Visit www.cfcinsights.com for more information. Those who purchase the Report prior to 17 June will also gain access to a live webinar with Cargo Facts Consulting Managing Director and report author, Frederic Horst.

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