China Airlines orders four new Boeing 777F freighters
China Airlines on Thursday announced the purchase of four new Boeing 777F freighters to its existing fleet.
The deliveries are slated to commence in 2023, and altogether six 777F freighters have progressively entered service with China Airlines since 2020.
The addition of these four new aircraft will eventually bring China Airlines' 777F freighter fleet to ten aircraft in total. This expansion of the 777F freighter fleet, alongside the world's largest 747F freighter fleet, will boost the already considerable cargo-carrying capacity of China Airlines.
China Airlines is the fifth largest air cargo carrier in the world. The ongoing fleet acquisition program will boost operating performance by balancing network development and market movements against the aircraft replacement schedule.
China Airlines began taking delivery of six 777F freighters in December 2020. So far, three have been delivered, with two more slated for 2022 and one more lined up in 2023. The delivery of the four newly ordered 777F freighters will commence in 2023 and be completed by 2024.
The 777F is a twin-engine freighter that has high performance and fuel efficiency making it suitable for trans-Pacific routes. It has fewer restrictions on payload, enabling more efficient use of hold space.
The aircraft is equipped with fully temperature-controlled cargo holds. The main cargo hold can be fitted with cargo pallet restraint systems used for carrying semiconductor machinery and engines, providing high-value cargo such as precision instruments and temperature-controlled goods with optimal carriage services.
China Airlines benefited from the cargo-carrying capacity of its eighteen 747F and three 777F freighters because of high demand in the cargo market during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, China Airlines deployed over a hundred cargo charter flights in a month, surpassing TWD 15.4 billion in single-month cargo revenues in December and exceeding TWD 10 billion in cargo revenues for five consecutive months. This helped the airline sweep past TWD 100 billion in cargo revenues for the entire year. China Airlines is focusing all its effort on the cargo market. Once the new freighters are progressively introduced into service, the additional capacity will be utilised to capture global business opportunities.
