Boeing received 11 orders for the 777 freighter in September, taking the total number of orders of the model this year to 28.
The customers for the 777F have largely been a mystery. All 11 of the 777F aircraft ordered last month were purchased by unidentified customer(s), according to Boeing’s orders report for 2024.
In February there was one 777F order, followed by five in June and five in July all from unidentified customer(s), although Air Cargo News understands four of the orders were made by National Airlines.
BCA Customer Finance has also ordered two of the model, while Turkish Airlines ordered four. Both orders were made in June.
2024 has shaped up to be a good year for 777F orders, demonstrating the production freighter model remains a popular choice, given the option of the 777-8F.
This year’s tally of 28 models so far is almost triple the total of 777F orders in 2023, that numbered 10.
Given that 2023 was a slow year for air cargo demand this isn’t an unexpected difference. Last year resulted in a number of airlines reducing or cancelling overall freighter orders in response to the challenging market.
For Boeing specifically, there were 35 777F orders in 2022, in 2021 there were 42, in 2020 there were 13 and in 2019 there were 17.
From 2028, companies will no longer be able to order production 777Fs due to stricter emissions regulations.
Meanwhile, deliveries of the 777F have also been slow to get going this year. Boeing has declined to comment on the reasons for the slowdown in production of the model but reports have surfaced about possible shortages of the twinjet’s GE Aerospace GE90 turbofans.
However, 11 777F have been handed over to customers from January up until the end of September.
These included one to EVA Air and one to Qatar Airways in April and then two to Air China Cargo, two to China Airlines and one to MSC in June. Then in July, one was delivered to Maersk, followed by one to CMA CGM, one to Emirates and one to Lufthansa in August.
As an alternative the 777F production freighter, there are currently three 777-300ER conversion programmes in place with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Kansas Modification Center (KMC) and Mammoth Freighters, in addition to the 777-200LR programme in development with Mammoth.
There have also been eight 767-300F deliveries this year, four to FedEx and four to UPS, confirmed Boeing’s report.
Boeing sees 777 freighter orders pick up in June
CMA CGM Air Cargo launches transpacific route with latest 777F
National Airlines orders four 777Fs
The post Boeing clocks up 11 777F orders in September appeared first on Air Cargo News.
