Boeing recorded a total of 35 777 freighter orders last year, while there was also an order for eight 767-300 freighters from a mystery customer(s) in December.
The aircraft manufacturer logged the 767-300F order(s) in its Airplane Gross Orders report, but has not released any further details.
This order ends a lull in orders of the model and follows Boeing’s annoucement in October last year that it would conclude production of the 767F in 2027, after a pause in deliveries of the aircraft model in 2023 due to quality issues affecting commercial and military versions of the widebody jets.
According to Boeing’s records, there were no 767-300F orders in 2023 and a total of 10 orders in 2022, eight from UPS and two from FedEx.
But in 2021, when freighter demand was high due to the pandemic, there were 18 orders from FedEx, 19 from UPS and one from the Tanzanian government.
Boeing delivered 10 767-300Fs last year. These were delivered to FedEx and UPS.
In its November ‘The Freighter Market: Mixed Signals’ webinar, aviation consultant Cirium said 767 conversion feedstock is now very limited and less conversions are being carried out, possibily making the last remaining units of the model more attractive.
Meanwhile, 2024’s tally of 35 777F orders is a turnaround from 2023 when 777F orders amounted to 10.
Orders are in fact on par with the pandemic boom years for air cargo. There were 35 777F orders in 2022, while in 2021 there were 42. In 2020 there were 13 and in 2019 there were 17.
Data shows that 13 777Fs were delivered last year.
At the same time as announcing it would end production of the 767-300F, Boeing delayed the entry to market of the 777-8 freighter until 2028.
But last month, Boeing received a boost for its new generation model. Taiwan based China Airlines announced plans to order four 777-8Fs with deliveries expected from 2029.
Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast (WACF) predicted the global air cargo fleet will rise to 3,900 freighters by 2043, an approximate 66% increase from 2,340 cargo aircraft in 2023.
