Airbus has high hopes for its A350F cargo aircraft with further orders expected 

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has high hopes for its A350F freighter. The planemaker is forecasting a strong second half of 2024 for its long-range wide-bodied cargo plane with more orders expected from several new customers, according to a company spokesperson. 

Speaking to Air Cargo News, Bernard de l’Estoile, Airbus’ Senior Director of freighter marketing commented that the company is currently in consultation with several airlines on potential orders. In particular, carriers from both Asia and the US are expected to feature heavily in any new orders announced by the end of 2024, de l’Estoile commented. 

While bulk freight remains a high-volume market for freighter operators, e-commerce is becoming an important and lucrative sector, and where much of the future growth in air cargo is forecast to be. With China being a huge exporter of e-commerce goods, Airbus is hoping for A350F orders from Chinese airlines.   

“Clearly China is a big region for air cargo and a big region for this category of freighter. So obviously we are looking at that market” said de l’Estoile. 

Launched in 2021, the A350F is yet to fly although the certification process has already begun. The first aircraft is currently scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2026. So far, orders for the freighter variant of its popular long-haul twinjet have been steady, if not overwhelming, with 55 firm orders placed from ten operators. Notably, several of these customers are already operators of the A350 passenger variant.    

AirbusThe commonality between the two variants is key, according to Airbus, as it allows for familiarity and common licenses for both pilots and maintenance crews alike and saves on spares inventories. It also means that airlines have experience of operating the type in a real-world environment and know the aircraft and its capabilities well.  

“That commonality makes a lot of sense for the airline to integrate the A350F into their operations,” commented l’Estoile. 

While an entry-into-service date of 2026 is later than was originally expected, the orders placed more recently indicated to Airbus that customers are not put off by the potential wait for the introduction of the new aircraft into their fleets.  

A350F order history 

Kicking off orders for the A350F was US lessor Air Lease Corporation which ordered seven A350Fs in November 2021, while shipping firm CMA CGM ordered four for its CMA CGM Air Cargo division, although that initial order was doubled in April 2024.  

Next in line was an order from the Air France-KLM Group, which in December 2021 ordered four A350Fs to be operated by its Air France cargo division. Air France-KLM also ordered four A350Fs in January 2023 for operation by its Dutch cargo airline Martinair to be operated on behalf of KLM Cargo. The group currently has 29 A350-900s in service. 

AirbusIn February 2022, Singapore Airlines firmed up an order for seven A350Fs, while Silk Way West Airlines of Kazakhstan ordered two A350Fs in June 2022. In August 2022, Middle Eastern carrier Etihad Cargo firmed up an order for seven aircraft. 

Cathay Cargo placed an order for six of the aircraft in December 2023, with options for another 20 aircraft. The Hong Kong-based carrier currently flies 29 A350-900s and 16 A350-1000s. 

AirbusAlso in December 2023, Turkish Airlines secured delivery positions for five A350Fs, to add to its current fleet of 19 A350-900s. 

Most recently, in February 2024, Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines placed an order for five A350Fs, with options for another five. The airline currently operates five A350-900 passenger planes in its fleet.  

Although things may have gone quiet since the Starlux order, Airbus remains positive about the future prospects for its A350F freighter and sees the steady influx of orders as a testament to the appeal of the yet-to-be-certified aircraft.   

AirbusA350F specifications 

The A350F has a range of around 5,625 miles (9,000km) and equal volume to the 747F. The aircraft has up to 111 metric tons of payload which equates to five tons more than the 777F. It also has 40% lower fuel burn and CO2 emissions compared to the 747F and up to 20% less CO2 emissions than the 777F. 

To make the aircraft even more appealing to potential customers, the A350F underwent several design tweaks while it was still on the drawing board. The main deck cargo door was widened to speed up aircraft turnaround times. The door’s width is now 444cm (175 inches) which is 64cm (25 inches) wider than the 777F main deck door.  

Another major modification was the air conditioning system, which was divided between the payload part of the aircraft and other areas, including the cockpit and crew rest. This design is particularly useful in the transport of live animals, says Airbus.  

AirbusThe rollout of the A350F and other new freighter models will be all the more important with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aircraft CO2 emissions standard, which stipulates that in-production aircraft that by 2028 do not meet the standard will no longer be able to be produced unless their designs are sufficiently modified. This will affect the future production of the Boeing 767F and 777F models, de l’Estoile pointed out.  

Future freight market 

In the Airbus Global Market Forecast (GMF) published in June 2023, Airbus predicted there will be global demand for 2,510 freighter aircraft during the period 2023-2042.  

600 of the new freighter aircraft will be large widebody (more than 80 ton) aircraft, 890 will be mid-size widebody (40 ton – 80 ton) aircraft, and 1,020 will be single-aisle (10 ton – 40 ton) aircraft. This will see the world freighter fleet in service reach 3,230 aircraft by 2042.

AirbusGiven the forecast numbers listed above, Airbus sees the potential for its A350F to be huge. As the aircraft nears its first flight sometime in 2025, it is expecting sales to take off once carriers can see the benefits that the A350F can offer to both new and existing A350 customers.   

STARLUX places firm order for five A350F and three more A330neo widebodies

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