The airline is using the 747s on trips between Asia and North America.
Emirates has confirmed the lease of two Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft as part of broader ambitions to expand the capacity of its SkyCargo business. With the addition of these, the airline’s current Boeing 777F aircraft will have more flexibility, and Emirates will become a rare operator of both the 747 and the Airbus A380.
The 747 is still operating well.
According to information released this morning, Emirates SkyCargo’s long-term objective is to increase its capacity over the next ten years. A more immediate aspect of this strategy has seen Emirates start operating a pair of leased Boeing 747-400F aircraft. New jets, upgrades, and greater belly-hold capacity in passenger flights will all play a vital role in this.
The two new 747-Fs that Emirates SkyCargo has leased will provide us with immediate capacity as we wait for the delivery of five new 777Fs in 2024 and 2025 and ten 777-300ERs to roll out of our conversion program over the following five years, according to Divisional Senior Vice President of Emirates SkyCargo Nabil Sultan. We think that even these more planes won’t be enough.
We’ll have the MRO ready by then if we need to ramp our freighter conversion program up rapidly and effectively.The 747s, according to Emirates, are here to stay for the time being, and their leases are long-term in nature. These aircraft are now being used for 12 rotations each week, nine of which are serving Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). The 747-400F is dispatched to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) for the last three passengers.
Emirates has previously used the 747-400F.
The Boeing 747-400F has actually been used by Emirates SkyCargo before. In fact, 10 examples of this aircraft type are listed on ATDB.aero as having formerly flown for the UAE flag carrier’s airfreight business, which is situated in Dubai. Even during the past five years, several of these have existed.
These earlier instances also came to the airline on a lease basis, much as the Boeing 747-400 freighters that Emirates SkyCargo has lately started operating. ASL Airlines Belgium, Atlas Air, Cargolux, Cargolux Italia, and World Airways were just a few of the carriers from which they were obtained.The first one (N408MC) arrived on board in January 2001, and the different leases involving these aircraft covered a period of approximately two decades. A little more than two years after being leased in the UAE, in January 2020, Emirates SkyCargo’s final Boeing 747-400F (LX-GCL) sailed for Cargolux Italia.
taking flight in both double-decker quadjets
Due to the recent addition of the Boeing 747-400F to its SkyCargo fleet, Emirates has become a unique current operator of aircraft from both the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 families. In spite of having both, Lufthansa won’t start using its A380s again until the following month. Qatar Airways, Asiana Airlines, and Korean Air are among the airlines with operational instances of both, with their 747 freighters and passenger and cargo 747s, respectively.
