FLUG REVUE July 2006: Boeing offers many freighters

July 2006

BOEING OFFERS CARGO FLEET

By Sebastian Steinke

“The global volume of freight has increased 40-fold since the advent of the first jets,” enthuses Tom Crabtree, Director Regional Cargo Marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle. According to the calculations of this graduate aeronautical engineer and Boeing market researcher, “On average the market is growing globally by 6.3% per year.” Individual markets such as China are apparently growing by over 20 percent per annum in a trend that has continued without interruption since 1989. Between now and 2023, the global volume of cargo is expected to treble yet again.

Of course this growing market also means lucrative business for the aircraft manufacturers, for whom cargo aircraft have advanced from what was once a civilian niche to become the focus of serious business activities. According to Crabtree, there are currently no fewer than 399 cargo jumbo jets either already in service with the airlines or the subject of a firm order. On top of this there are a further 421 Boeing large capacity cargo aircraft based on other Boeing models. Then, according to Boeing's figures, Airbus is also a major player in this market, with 310 active large-capacity freighters or firm orders, and will shortly be sending the first cargo triple-deck aircraft into the fray in the form of the A380F.

Boeing estimates that by the year 2024 the global fleet of cargo aircraft will have doubled from 16,800 to 35,300 aircraft. This figure includes not only purpose-built freighter planes but also conversions, combis and smaller standard fuselage cargo aircraft. Over the next 20 years the market for new cargo aircraft alone will amount to $155 billion. According to Boeing's latest estimate, this includes 300 new-build cargo planes of the size of the 747F and A380F.

In the flourishing freight business, a wide spectrum of parallel, very different business models, task areas and operational profiles has evolved over the last few years which requires a corresponding variety of aircraft types. As well as the classic cargo subsidiaries of the big scheduled carriers, for example Lufthansa Cargo and JAL Cargo, and the classic purely cargo companies such as Air Atlanta Icelandic and Polar Air Cargo, the courier airlines such as DHL, FedEx Express and UPS especially are making fat profits and have ambitious growth plans. For example, this year FedEx Express is hiring new pilots at the rate of 30 per month and is expanding its fleet by a further 21 wide-body jets. Within the USA, the express freight giants today enjoy a cargo market share of 60 percent and a full 80 percent share of sales, according to Crabtree. On the other hand their share of international business is only around eleven percent.

Because the package freighters set off extremely punctually for their hub airports, following extremely tight schedules, and take off for the return leg or the next leg as soon as one lot of cargo pallets has been replaced by another, the requirements profile for cargo aircraft has shifted (see also UPS expands it's Cologne hub in FLUG REVUE 4/2006). Extremely high operational reliability for consistently punctual departures is often higher on the list of priorities than lower procurement costs. As a result, it is no longer often the case that heavily used, largely depreciated passenger jets of older models routinely spend their final days as cargo aircraft. Instead, more and more air cargo companies and especially express freight airlines are, to the joy of the manufacturers, splashing out on the latest and also the most expensive models which offer the maximum reliability and efficiency and the lowest noise emissions.

In the cargo sector, noise has become increasingly important, since these workhorses, almost invariably loaded to the maximum takeoff weight, frequently have to set off at night if their cargo is to arrive at its destination on time the next morning. Boeing is promising that, despite a payload of 140 tonnes, the future 747-8 will satisfy the stringent QC2 noise limits on take-off and landing and is even hopeful that it can meet the even lower QC1 limit on the approach. Thanks to the extremely strict QC2 classification, the jumbo, upgraded with new engines and new wing profile, should be allowed to operate in London Heathrow at night-time, like the brand new A380.

As an alternative to a new purchase, there remains the option of freighter conversion. However, the airlines prefer to start with much more modern types as candidates for conversion, for example second-hand A310's or, since the end of 2005, the 747-400, assuming that they still have half their 40 year total service life left. As completely overhauled and structurally strengthened converted freighters, these jets begin their second life of at least another 15 years “almost as new”. Well-known airlines which are not so concerned about the purchase price, also use the attractive variant, which costs only one-third of a comparable new purchase.

For example, Boeing has recently started marketing a converted freighter known as the Boeing Converted Freighter or BCF for short, for which the conversion work is carried out by TAECO in Taiwan and which comes with a manufacturer's guarantee. It has already received 50 orders and options for the 747-400BCF. Freighters converted by other companies, for example by IAI/Bedek in Israel, are known, on the other hand, as Special Freighter or SF.

All conversions are carried out to the latest and hence most stringent certification standards. Including a D check, the work will require a jumbo to spend four months in the hangar. This includes not only installing a large cargo door on the side, but also reinforcing the structure of the fuselage and doorframe, installing new floors and moving or replacing numerous bulkheads. On the other hand existing 747 Combi freighters are less expensive to convert to dedicated freighter planes. For example, Air France plans to convert all its Combis, starting in 2007.

The much sought-after MD-11F converted freighter is a special case. After new production of the MD-11, which was unpopular with many passenger airlines due to its inadequate range, was suspended, the cargo airlines snapped up all the available used aircraft. For the MD-11F is much in demand as a cargo plane due to its cost-efficiency and its high payload capacity of a generous 90 tonnes. Virtually all 40 to 50 remaining passenger MD-11's are already earmarked to become converted freighters.

“The bigger an aircraft is, the more it pays to buy a new plane,” says Crabtree. “Due to its higher reliability, for example, 747 new-build freighters achieve a 10 percent higher anual utilisation in terms of flight hours, compared with 747 converted freighters.” Moreover, every converted freighter is carrying around inherited “dead” structural weight which is left behind even after the careful removal of all former passenger facilities, such as galleys and lavatories. Due to their insider knowledge of the structure, aircraft manufacturers are able to shave several hundred extra kilograms off their own aircraft compared with aircraft converted by outside companies.

On the other hand, as Marco Cavazzoni, director of Boeing's converted freighter programme, observes, recent passenger aircraft models are being designed to be ever lighter, so that their subsequent conversion to the more robust freighter is becoming more expensive with every new generation. Due to the high demand, suitable used aircraft are becoming more difficult to find than was the case only three years ago.

Only the purpose-built 747F freighter has a hinged nose for additional loading from the front. Unlike the A380F, which does not have a nose door and is primarily suited to carry packages and lighter cargoes such as electronics, textiles and perishable goods, the 747F can also carry extremely heavy classic air cargo, for example, construction equipment, oil rig equipment and other industrial plant. According to Boeing's figures, the robust jumbo freighters have a service life of up to 115,000 flying hours. The price quoted on the latest Boeing list prices for a new 747-400F or 747-400ERF is between 272.5 and 282.2 million dollars. The future 747-8F, with its fuselage stretched to 76.3 metres, will cost as much as $279.5 to $283.5 million. On the other hand, a new 747 converted freighter can be had for 60 to 70 million dollars.

The American manufacturer is offering the voluminous 777F with a payload of 103 tonnes as a modern successor to the MD-11F. This twin-jet aircraft, which carries a price tag of $232.5 to $240 million and first deliveries of which are scheduled for the end of 2008, uses many of the enhancements incorporated into the latest passenger versions, the 777-200LR and 777-300ER, for example, their more powerful engines and modified wings. Like a jumbo, the 777 freighter can also transport extremely heavy cargo with a mass of up to 10lb/ft2, the standard unit used in the industry. By comparison, the A380F which, admittedly, is designed for a slightly different market, can “only” manage 8lb/ft2. Up to 12 cargo attendants can travel on passenger seats in the nose of the 777F. Moreover, the side cargo door of the spacious 777F is bigger than that of the 747F. As a result, ground handling of the twin-jet is quicker because the cargo hoisting platform does not have to be manoeuvred so precisely, while partially dismantled giant aircraft engines like the GE-90-115B, which have to be rotated together with their pallet during loading, can also be accommodated. To enable loading of the cargo to be better monitored from the cockpit, Boeing plans to use the taxi cameras in the vertical tail unit of the 777F when the aircraft is stationary and to slightly alter their configuration.

The 767 is the smallest wide-body Boeing cargo plane. The 767-300F is still quoted in the latest Boeing price list at between $143 and $155 million for a new aircraft. However, it is likely that 767 production will cease before long in favour of the 787, so Boeing plans to design a 767-300BCF as a converted freighter by the third quarter of 2006. ANA of Japan will be the launch customer. The cost efficiency of this type, which was designed both for medium and long distances, is to be improved by blended winglets.

The next potential Boeing cargo plane, already waiting in the wings, is the 787. Although Boeing has not yet formally taken the decision to build a cargo version, the company admits that the 787 design is already compatible with its possible use as a freighter, for example, due to the fact that potential cargo door locations have been kept clear of cables and pipes.

From page 32 of FLUG REVUE 7/2006

Last updated 8 June 2006

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