Airbus, Boeing see success with production freighters in 2025

After a quiet 2024, 2025 turned out to be a solid year for Airbus’ A350F and Boeing’s 777-8F programs, which garnered net orders for twenty-six and thirteen units during the year, respectively. For Airbus, the year’s sales performance for the A350F was the best since the program’s launch in 2021, while for Boeing, it was the first year a new customer had ordered the 777-8F since that program’s launch in 2022. [caption id="attachment_57295240" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Airbus assembled the main fuselage sections of the A350F prototype in late 2025. (Courtesy/Airbus)[/caption] In 2025, Boeing delivered a total of fifty freighters — thirty-five 777Fs and fifteen 767-300Fs — the most since 2019. A350F orders break 80-unit mark As of the end of 2025, Airbus’ order backlog for the A350F program stood at eighty-one units. Starlux Airlines set the tone for the year, exercising options for five more A350Fs , in January for a total of ten. That month, an order for three units from an unidentified customer also appeared, and although Cargo Facts understood that the customer was Etihad Airways, it was not until the Dubai Airshow in November 2025 that the Abu Dhabi-based airline formally revealed that it had increased its A350F order to ten aircraft from seven . At the Paris Air Show in June 2025, Saudi Arabia-based AviLease announced an order for ten A350Fs with options for up to twelve more, marking the second lessor commitment to the type. The final quarter of 2025 proved to be especially active for the A350F program. In October, MNG Airlines firmed up the memorandum of understanding for two A350Fs it had signed with Airbus in June , while Korean Air converted seven passenger A350s it had previously ordered into the freighter variant . In November, Silk Way West Airlines exercised options for two more A350Fs , doubling the number it had on firm order. That same month, Air China Cargo became the first customer in mainland China to order the type in a deal for six aircraft and options for four more. Cancellations Despite all the order activity for the A350F program, 2025 also saw its first cancellations. The first came in June, when Air Lease’s order for seven aircraft dropped off the Airbus backlog . Air France-KLM also canceled one A350F from each of its subsidiaries Air France’s and Martinair’s previous four-unit orders, and Airbus removed them from the backlog in December and July, respectively. Both Air Lease and Air France-KLM cited the A350F’s delayed entry into service in the second half of 2027 as a reason for canceling their orders. The eighty-one A350Fs on order as of Dec. 31, 2025, include: Ten units each for AviLease, Starlux Airlines and Etihad Airways; Eight for CMA CGM ; Seven each for Singapore Airlines and Korean Air; Six each for Cathay Pacific and Air China Cargo; Five for Turkish Airlines ; Four for Silk Way West Airlines; Three each for Air France and Martinair ; and Two for MNG Airlines. 777-8F production starts Boeing began production and assembly of its prototype 777-8F in 2025, drilling the the first holes in the first wing spar in July. The planemaker added new customer China Airlines to the 777-8F backlog in March with an initial order for four units. Four more aircraft followed in November. Then, in December, five more 777-8Fs appeared in the backlog, but they are unidentified and it is unclear whether they were ordered by one or multiple customers. [caption id="attachment_57295242" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] The 777-8F is slated to enter into service in 2029. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] After Boeing in October pushed the entry into service of its passenger 777-9 to 2027, the first 777-8F’s delivery has also correspondingly slipped to 2029 . Sixty-eight 777-8Fs were on order as of Dec. 31, 2025: Thirty-four for Qatar Airways ; Ten for Cargolux ; Eight for China Airlines; Seven for Lufthansa ; Five that are unidentified; Two for ANA ; and Two for Silk Way West Airlines . 777F remains bestseller Boeing delivered its 300th 777F in 2025, sixteen years after handing over the first. That was not the only delivery milestone that Boeing hit in 2025. The planemaker delivered thirty-five 777Fs during the year, a record for the program. Two new carriers joined the list of 777F operators in 2025, with Suparna Airlines and Air One each receiving two units. In terms of orders, FedEx firmed up options to buy eight new 777Fs in March, while Qatar Airways surfaced as a previously unidentified customer, with an order for two units . The other five 777Fs that Boeing added to the backlog in 2025 are unidentified. In 2026, Boeing may receive more 777F orders should it obtain an exemption from the FAA to produce, certify and deliver thirty-five more units after Jan. 1, 2028. Without the exemption, Boeing must stop making the 777F after Dec. 31, 2027, because the aircraft no longer complies with emissions and fuel-efficiency standards set out by the Environmental Protection Agency and the FAA. More new 777Fs would be beneficial to the public partly because of the 777-8F delay but also because there is customer demand for the aircraft amid a shortage of widebody capacity, Boeing said in a Dec. 19, 2025, petition to the Department of Transportation. It would not be surprising to see Boeing being granted the waiver, especially now that UPS has decided to retire all its MD-11Fs. In any case, the 777F has already secured its status as the best-selling widebody freighter of all time. As the A350F prototype moves closer to its first test flight in 2026, Cargo Facts expects to see the battle between Airbus and Boeing in the next-generation widebody segment continue to heat up. Cargo Facts will present four invaluable events for airfreight professionals in the first half of 2026, starting with Cargo Facts LATAM, on Feb. 10-12. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com .

Airbus, Boeing see success with production freighters in 2025

Global air cargo traffic stays strong amid 2025’s headwinds

Boeing Needs More to Claw Out of Restrictions, FAA Chief Says

Related Posts

From the Cockpit with K2 Aviation’s Karl Ryan

Production freighter activity highlights May FATs

Widebodies account for more than half of April’s transactions

Boeing Needs More to Claw Out of Restrictions, FAA Chief Says

Cargo Facts Free Newsletters

Cargo Facts Connect Podcast

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password