Weekly Wrap: Widebody additions and deliveries, and the end of the 747 [VIDEO]

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• July 10, 2020
• Editorial, Equipment, News, Video

This week, Cargo Facts reported on stories involving widebody aircraft, including: Ethiopian Airlines’ plans to add a 777F and three converted 767-300Fs; the first reconfigured A380 passenger freighter; and Lufthansa Cargo’s expected delivery of two new 777Fs in 2020. But the 747 was also in the spotlight. In the video below, editors Charles Kauffman and […]

Saudia 747-8Fs idled during height of crisis

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• July 9, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Conversions, Editorial, Equipment, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Saudia Cargo is looking to shed its pair of 747-8Fs, Cargo Facts has learned. Meanwhile, during the unprecedented cargo capacity crunch brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, almost half of the carrier’s freighter fleet is currently inactive. The seven-year-old 747-8Fs (37562 and 37563) have both been parked in Jeddah (JED) since January 2020. In fact, […]

Restructuring at Lufthansa leaves freighter fleet plans intact

• Charles Kauffman
• July 9, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Editorial, Equipment, News, Production Freighters, Strategy

Lufthansa Group’s outstanding order with Boeing for two 777Fs remains unaffected despite the fact that the Lufthansa Cargo parent will halve its investment in aircraft between now and 2023, and continues to reduce some of the estimated 22,000 jobs made redundant by the crisis, Cargo Facts has learned. The Germany-based group this week approved a […]

Crisis could diversify next-gen narrowbody leasing market

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• July 8, 2020
• Aircraft, Carriers, Conversions, Editorial, Equipment, Narrowbody Conversions, Narrowbody Fleet Analysis, News, Strategy

Minneapolis (MSP) is not a base for all-cargo carriers, and yet a freshly painted 737-800BCF (32605, ex-Hainan Airlines) landed at the airport on June 26, having arrived empty from Everett (PAE). The aircraft had arrived in Everett in early June after conversion to freighter configuration by Boeing in China. In the past three months, GECAS, […]

Hi Fly pilots first A380 freighter-lite

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• July 7, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Editorial, Equipment, Logistics, News, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Portugal-based wet lease specialist Hi Fly has become the first airline to modify an A380 into a makeshift freighter by removing seats from its passenger cabin. According to Hi Fly, the reconfigured A380 offers a total volume of 165 cubic meters in the passenger cabin and 133 cubic meters in the belly, with a payload […]

Spotted: A321PCF prototype on the move

• Charles Kauffman
• July 7, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Conversions, Editorial, Equipment, Narrowbody Conversions, News

Freighter-converted A321s are on the horizon. The first A321-200 to be converted by 321 Precision Conversions, a joint venture between Precision Aircraft Solutions and Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), was spotted taxiing outside the Avocet MRO facility at Orlando Sanford International (SFB), where the conformity aircraft is being converted. The aircraft (891, ex-FlyCAA), seen above, […]

Ethiopian to grow freighter fleet to 18

• Jeff Lee
• July 7, 2020
• Aircraft, Capacity & Demand, Carriers, Conversions, Editorial, Equipment, Exclusive, Logistics, Narrowbody Conversions, News, Production Freighters, Strategy, Widebody Conversions

Ethiopian Airlines is set to grow its cargo fleet with six more freighters. The carrier told Cargo Facts it will be adding one new 777F directly from Boeing, three freighter-converted 767Fs, and two freighter-converted 737Fs, but declined to provide an approximate timeline for their arrival. The 777F, Ethiopian’s eleventh, could be the third 777F involved in […]

In shuttering 747 program, Boeing shuns consortium’s proposal, Cargo Facts learns

• Charles Kauffman and Jeff Lee
• July 6, 2020
• Aircraft, All Posts, Equipment, News, Production Freighters, Widebody Conversions

Not only is Boeing abandoning the 747 platform, continuing its trend in recent years of turning away customers seeking to purchase the iconic widebody, the aerospace giant has also declined an offer to acquire the program, Cargo Facts has learned. Efforts to save the 747-8 have failed, requiring the air cargo industry to face the […]