Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings has ordered two incremental B777-200Fs, taking over slots returned earlier this year by Air Canada. The deliveries are planned for the second half of 2024.
"These aircraft [...] come at a time when retirements of older widebody freighters will significantly increase and when the introduction of new widebody freighter capacity will be limited. We have a deep pipeline of prospective customers interested in these B777 freighters, and we're confident in our ability to place them under long-term agreements," chief executive Michael Steen said.
Atlas Air currently operates three B777-200Fs with two more on order under a previous commitment from 2021. The fourth aircraft is expected by the end of 2023. Atlas Air operates all of them under an exclusive charter agreement with shipping giant MSC. Sister carrier Polar Air Cargo operates another six units of the type.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Atlas Air also operates eight B737-800(BCF)s, five B747-400s, thirty-nine B747-400 freighters in various variants (including four B747-400(LCF)s on behalf of Boeing), eight B747-8Fs, six B767-300ERs, and twenty converted B767-300(ER) freighters in both STCs. Polar Air Cargo also operates another six B747-8Fs and two B767-300ER(BDSF)s. The holding does not have any outstanding firm orders from the manufacturers except for the B777s.
Air Canada dropped the order for the two B777-200Fs, its only commitment for the type, in September 2023 amid a downturn on the cargo market.
