Executives at cargo specialist Atlas Air said that they expect sufficient global freight demand to fill their delayed new Boeing 747-8F aircraft once they receive them, Dow Jones reported.
Parent Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings and rivals such as UPS and FedEx have been battling a slide in air freight traffic that started last June and intensified at the end of 2008.
The weak market forced some operators to defer or cancel new aircraft deliveries, but also left Boeing as the only provider of a new ultra-large cargo jet as Airbus lost all orders for the freight version of its A380.
Atlas, which provides outsourced air cargo services to commercial carriers and the US military, has 12 747-8Fs on order and is the largest operator of the now discontinued 747-400F freighter.
The company has yet to finalise a new delivery schedule for the 747-8F, which has yet to fly after design problems and a strike at Boeing delayed first deliveries by at least nine months.
Atlas was due to receive the first of its six orders next February, with another six arriving in 2011. |
