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  • Russia’s S7 Airlines is planning to deploy main-deck capacities.

09.10.2020 By: Andreas Haug


Artikel Nummer: 33477

Freight a mighty player

Airfreight forwarders are continuing to struggle to find space on aeroplanes for their ­customers’ cargo as the months go by. Ever more airlines have ascertained how lucrative main-deck opportunities currently are, so Boeing has increased its conversion capacities.


 

 

The ubiquitous phenomenon of passenger planes temporarily being converted into full-freighters has not only been taking place in the West. In Russia in May, for example, Nordwind and Pegas Fly, subsi­diaries of the Pegas Touristik Group from Turkey, and S7 Airlines, both started ­using aeroplanes, parked on account of the lack of passengers, to transport freight.

 

In August the latter went one step ­further and announced that it is leasing two Boeing B737-800BCFs from Gecas. Once ­converted the units – then ‘real’ full-freighters – will in- crease the cargo capacity of S7 Airlines by 30% from next month onwards, and then from January 2021. Russia’s largest private airline transported 28,300 t of airfreight in the first half, 70% more than in the previous year. Calling this an important milestone doesn’t qualify as an exaggeration.

 

 

Small and large milestones

There are currently 134 orders for B737-800BCFs in Boeing’s orderbooks; 74 thereof have been placed by launch customer ­Gecas. In September Boeing reacted to the run on the scrap metal by announcing that it will establish a second production line for the short and medium-haul freighter (which can carry 23.9 t) at the Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company at the beginning of next year. A second production line for the larger (56.6 t) B767-800BCF is set to commence operations at ST Engineering (Singapore) before this year is over.