DHL Express to add five ex-Etihad A330-200Fs

Between 28 December and 11 January, Abu Dhabi-headquartered Etihad Airways removed all five of its A330-200 production freighters from service and placed them into storage. For months, there were whispers about where these relatively young freighters (2000-2017 vintage) would end up. The answer to this question became clear earlier this week when EAT Leipzig took […]

• Charles Kauffman
• August 15, 2018

Freighter conversion experts prepare for intense narrowbody market debate

Although speakers on the narrowbody conversion panel at the upcoming Cargo Facts Symposium have much to agree on – like how strong demand for narrowbody freighter conversions will persist, and how the conversion of next-generation narowbodies, which include 737 NGs and A320-family airframes, is set to accelerate – there is certainly no consensus when it […]

• Charles Kauffman
• August 15, 2018

Freighter aircraft transactions through mid-August

Every week in Cargo Facts Update, we include a list of recent freighter aircraft transactions, and then a comprehensive summary in the monthly issue of Cargo Facts. Each reference to a freighter aircraft transaction (FAT) in our publications contains a unique FAT code linked to the FAT database on the CargoFacts.com website. This database is […]

• Caryn Livingston
• August 15, 2018

Freighter aircraft leasing: Portfolios full of narrowbodies – part II

Yesterday we began our annual analysis of freighter aircraft leasing with an overview of the lessors involved in freighter aircraft leasing. You can read part I here. Today in part II, we look at the leased freighter fleet by carrier. Turning now an analysis of the fleets of carriers that lease freighter aircraft begins to […]

• Charles Kauffman
• August 14, 2018

Revisiting the 747-400 Freighter

In November 2017, air freight traffic was growing 8.0% year-over-year, jet fuel was selling for about $1.75/gallon, Cargolux CEO Richard Forson was telling journalists that he was thinking about expanding his fleet of 23 747 freighters, and Boeing’s production of new 747-8Fs had slowed to a crawl. From where were these additional freighters to come? […]

• Alan Hedge
• August 10, 2018

EFW redelivers first A330-200P2F to EgyptAir Cargo

On 3 August, EgyptAir Cargo took redelivery of the first A330-200 passenger-to-freighter converted aircraft from EFW, the MRO and conversion joint venture of ST Aerospace Engineering and Airbus. EgyptAir initially signed on as EFW’s launch customer with an order for two of the converted freighters in late 2014 and has since confirmed an order for a third, […]

• Caryn Livingston
• August 6, 2018

Boeing completes first 737-800BCF for Air Algérie

On 21 July, Boeing unveiled the first 737-800BCF converted at the Taikoo (Shandong) Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (STAECO), in Jinan. Redelivery to Air Algérie is expected shortly. For the Algerian carrier, the freighter is one of two conversions it has on order with Boeing, dating back to an MoU placed at the Farnborough Airshow in 2016. Feedstock […]

• Charles Kauffman
• July 26, 2018

EFW secures A330-200P2F STC, EgyptAir delivery coming soon

EFW, the MRO and conversion joint venture of ST Aerospace and Airbus, received supplemental type certification (STC) from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for its A330-200 passenger-to-freighter conversion program and expects to redeliver the first aircraft to launch customer EgyptAir next month. EgyptAir signed on as the launch customer for the conversion program in […]

• Caryn Livingston
• July 20, 2018

Finding the sweet spot for next-gen narrowbody conversions

Over the past few years, there has been a lot of excitement (and jockeying by conversion houses) over the newest generation of narrowbody freighters, the Boeing 737NGs (737-700/-800) and Airbus A320 family (A320/321). As these newer freighters stand poised to begin replacing older types, let’s take an early look at the new programs and the […]

• Alan Hedge
• July 12, 2018

The regional freighter fleet in 2018

Today we begin a multi-part analysis of the worldwide fleet of regional freighter aircraft in commercial service, beginning with some background information and then breaking down the fleet by type and operator. This year, we are expanding our traditional turboprop freighter fleet analysis to include two small jet aircraft that play a role in the […]

• Caryn Livingston
• July 12, 2018