Atlas Air announced on Thursday that it has leased three Boeing 747-8Fs from BOC Aviation and that they will strengthen its fleet in the third quarter.
The US company justified the expansion due to strong global demand for dedicated wide-body air freight capacity, especially for international e-commerce transportation.
Atlas Air is the largest operator of the Boeing 747 in the world, with 65 of the type.
There are 17 747-8Fs, 39 747-400Fs, five 747-400 passenger jets and four Dreamlifters, an oversized cargo variant that is used to transport aerostructures for Boeing.
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“Atlas manages the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 747 freighter aircraft and is ideally placed to partner with us in the operation of these latest generation aircraft,” said Steven Townend, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, BOC Aviation. “As global airfreight volumes hit record highs this transaction highlights our ability to provide capacity solutions to a wide variety of airline customers.”
Aircraft returned by Russia’s AirBridgeCargo
The cargo company explained its decision to reinforce its fleet with the 747 freighter, which ceased production in 2022 and whose last aircraft was delivered to it in February 2023.
According to Atlas Air, the 747-8F has a 20% greater payload capacity than the 747-400 and 20% greater than the 777-200LRF.
“Additionally, the 747-8 freighter is the only factory-built freighter with nose-loading capability, meeting the long-term demands of the airfreight sector,” the company added.
Of the three leased 747-8Fs, two have already been transferred by BOC Aviation, the first on July 26 and the second on August 6. Both were still in storage, being prepared to assume commercial service.
The third 747-8F, registration N864GT, is due to be delivered soon after being returned by Russia’s AirBridgeCargo in March under an agreement reached with the lessor.
All three aircraft were flown by the Russian cargo carrier, but the first two were returned weeks after the military invasion of Ukraine began.
All 747-8Fs left Russia via China and then flew to the United States.
