Delays to the Boeing 777-8F programme were behind Cargolux’s recent decision to purchase four Boeing 747-400 freighters from China Airlines.
China Airlines initially announced in November of last year that it would sell two of the freighters to Cargolux, but in June the deal was expanded to four aircraft.
Speaking to Air Cargo News at the recent Air Cargo China exhibition, Cargolux chief executive said that it had decided to purchase the aircraft because of delays to Boeing 777-8F programme.
Cargolux has ordered 10 of the model but delivery of the aircraft is not expected until 2029. Boeing had initially hoped to start delivering the aircraft to customers in 2027.
“We decided that to provide a certain level of resilience in our fleet, to bring in extra 747Fs,” said Forson.
“It might be an overplay, but at least we will be in a position that if it becomes an extended delay, we are properly covered.”
Forson said that Cargolux expects to take delivery of the 747 aircraft in 2027.
At the moment, Cargolux’s current fleet is made up of 30 Boeing 747s – 14 747-8Fs and 16 747-400Fs.
The exact timeline of entry into market of the 777-8F depends on Boeing gaining certification for the 777-9 model, which will be the first of the 777X family to enter service and open the way for other models in the family to follow suit.
Buoyant market conditions
Elsewhere, Forson described the current mood in air cargo as optimistic, with e-commerce volumes continuing to grow – albeit at a slower pace than in the past – as the online shopping players add new markets; while technology and data centre volumes continue to boom.
Meanwhile, consumer confidence will hopefully pick up as fuel prices continue to ease and supply chain bottlenecks are boosting air cargo demand as companies look to quickly move goods.
He added that customers had even been approaching the airline to enquire about additional capacity.
However, Cargolux has always adopted a conservative approach to capacity additions and there are some underlying concerns about how long current growth levels can be sustained.
“My personal opinion is that I would rather be short on capacity than long on capacity,” he said. “During times where there is significant demand, you benefit, but you suffer when there is a decline in capacity and you have all the metal sitting around.
“So being short on capacity means I know the aircraft will always be flying full during the good times and during the bad times there is a lot less pressure.”
Forson pointed out that interest rates may soon start to rise and the impact of new European rules requiring a €3 charge for e-commerce imports could hit the market – some have predicted a 30% drop in e-commerce volumes into Europe, he said.
“People are clearly optimistic as to what the rest of this year is going to be. As an industry, if we have another good year, that’s great, although it just makes me a lot more cautious as to what is to come because it cannot always be at this level.
“The low value e-commerce growth is because people’s incomes are under stress, but when you buy cheap, and you get another €3 per HSE code, then it might add up to the point where it is not worth the price of the goods.”
EU rules and regulations
Forson also reiterated concerns the airline has previously expressed over increasing environmental and other reporting and compliance requirements.
Cargolux would like authorities and industry stakeholders to recognise these challenges to find suitable solutions and ensure a level playing field for EU carriers versus its global competitors.
“For me, to be on a level playing field, the EU really has to look around itself and see what other countries are doing instead of just passing legislation on a continuous basis,” Forson said.
He gave the example of Singapore, where the obligation to reduce emissions is on the shipper, while in the US airlines are implementing emissions reduction measures without mandates needing to be put in place.
