News / Boeing's 777 the freighter of choice as orders are unveiled at Farnborough

The age of the freighter is clearly not over – although the 777 is the new aircraft of choice.

Orders pledged at the Farnborough Air Show are starting to trickle in.

First off the block in cargo was DHL Express, which announced an order of 14 777 freighters and options on seven more. The delivery of the first four is expected to be completed next year.

The company said the new freighters would gradually replace older aircraft in its fleet, while the options would “support cross border e-commerce business as a profitable growth driver”.

The company said in a statement that “overall, these 14 intercontinental plane replacements are capacity neutral, but operational wise with significant cost, efficiency and reliability benefits.

“And, while DHL Express in the past has chiefly been leasing aircraft to operate its global network on the routes, the purchase of fully owned freighter aircraft will improve the cost position of the DHL Express division. For 2018, pre-payments have already been included in the group capex guidance.”

DHL added that the new fleet would help it cut emissions by 18%, and boost its ecommerce capabilities.

Next to announce was Qatar Airways Cargo, which put in an order for  five 777 freighters, to add to its fleet of 13 and two 747-8Fs.