Air freight recovery prompts FedEx to up 777F capacity

US EXPRESS delivery giant, FedEx, has increased its original four 777 freighters on order with Boeing by two, ahead of expected rising cargo volumes.

The 777 freighters allow for extra capacity, lower emissions by 18 per cent and lower fuel costs by taking an extra 14,000 pounds of cargo, improving mileage compared to old long-haul MD-11Fs.

The International Air Transport Association's (IATA) prediction of a recovery is likely to involve airfreight operators increasing orders with recovery one percentage point from a previous high of 2008. Thus far, the strength of the recovery was highest in Latin America and the Asia Pacific with March alone rising 47.9 and 34.1 per cent respectively.

United Parcel Service (UPS) will also increase in its international packages volume by 18 per cent ahead of market estimates.

Dutch TNT's showed an unexpected rise in first quarter profit and the German flagship airline Deutsche Lufthansa predicted profit from its loss of EUR171 million (US$218.5 million) last year with its CFO Stephan Gemkow confident of ongoing uplift. "We currently don't see an end of the recovery [in the cargo business]," he said in an Emirates Business 24/7 report.

The 777Fs are intended for delivery fiscal June with routes unannounced, its two others are deployed on Shanghai and Hong Kong routes from its Memphis hub.

Source: www.schednet.com