BOEING has delivered its first 777 Freighter to launch customer Air France in a ceremony at the Future of Flight Aviation Centre and Boeing Tour near Seattle's Paine Field in Washington State.
"Our new Boeing 777 Freighter will operate very well with our 747-400ER Freighters," said Air France vice president Pierre Vellay. "Also, we will benefit from the airplane's commonality with our proven 777 passenger fleet and improve our cargo efficiency to help us through the current economic difficulties."
At the same time, Air France-KLM Group is also considering postponing one or two of the Airbus SAS A380 superjumbo jets it has on order as the global economic downturn weakens demand for air travel.
Mr Vellay, also the airline's director of fleet development was quoted as saying in a Bloomberg report, "It's a very serious crisis."
Air France currently operates five 747-400ER Freighters and four 747-400BCFs, and the US aircraft manufacturer said 12 customers have so far ordered a total of seventy-three 777 Freighters.
Bloomberg said Air France-KLM is also deferring two of the five 777 freighters it has on order. The carrier has pushed back deliveries of two aircraft this year until 2010 to 2012, "according to the speed of the recovery" of the industry, Mr Vellay said.
It added that Air France-KLM announced last week it's postponing deliveries of six planes by two to three years, including an unspecified number of 777 cargo and passenger models and an unspecified model of Airbus aircraft.
Airbus expects to deliver eighteen A380s this year, down from the earlier goal of 21, though Air France still hopes to receive its first jet by the end of the year.
According to Mr Vellay, Air France has about 40 aircraft on order from both Boeing and Airbus and doesn't plan to cancel any orders, because it needs to renew its fleet, particularly as cargo traffic is expected to pick up in 2010.
The 777 Freighter can fly 9,000 kilometres with a full payload of 103 tons. The new airplane is expected to progressively replace the 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) in the Air France Cargo fleet.
"The 777 Freighter uses less fuel per cargo tonne than any freighter operating," said Boeing vice president Aldo Basile. "With the 777F, Air France also will experience the lowest maintenance costs and the lowest trip costs of any large freighter, as well as outstanding environmental performance."
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