From the latest edition of Freighters World, out now...
In a short-lived venture nearly twenty years ago United Airlines was running a transpacific freighter operation centred on Tokyo, writes Ian Putzger.
On the tarmac at Narita airport, the US carrier’s DC-10-30Fs stood out like strange minnows surrounded by behemoths. Practically all the other freighters were Boeing 747s.
In a somewhat ironic twist, it was a Narita-based carrier that may have now tolled the knell for the 747 freighter. Nippon Cargo Airlines’ (NCA) decision to scrap four orders for B747-8Fs raised questions about the future for the 747-8, notwithstanding a single order for 20 freighters from Volga-Dnepr — the only order for the type in over a year.
Some observers have argued that the combination of low fuel costs and on-going yield decline have undermined the case for the 747-8...
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