UPS plans to launch used Boeing 747-8Fs in 2024.
Used Boeing 747-8Fs will be added to UPS’s fleet in 2024, the US-based delivery giant that also has its own airline.
In its annual report submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company stated that it has committed to provide “seven new and used Boeing 767-300 aircraft in 2023, 21 new Boeing 767-300 aircraft between 2024 and 2026, and two used Boeing 747-8F aircraft in 2024.”
According to data from ch-aviation.com, 28 of the 292 aircraft that UPS now operates are the 747-8F. On January 31, 2023, Boeing delivered the last 747-8F to Atlas Air, who will fly it for Apex Logistics, a division of the shipping firm Kuehne+Nagel. This marked the end of the Boeing 747’s production. Since Pan American World Airlines (Pan Am) flew the 747 on the first commercial flight on January 22, 1970, the aircraft type has been referred to as the Queen of the Skies, and Boeing has delivered 1,574 of them in total.
In the meantime, the producer unveiled the 747-8, the final design of the Jumbo Jet, in 2005. On October 12, 2011, Cargolux, a cargo airline located in Luxembourg, flew the 747-8F for the first time. In total, 155 747-8s were delivered by Boeing: 107 cargo-only models and 48 passenger models.
Data from ch-aviation.com shows that 15 of the 107 Boeing 747-Fs that have been delivered to airlines worldwide are not currently in service. 12 of these are owned by AirBridge Cargo, a Russian airline whose operations were suspended in March 2022 as a result of lease agreement issues brought on by sanctions related to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the suspension of airworthiness certificates for Russian-based companies’ aircraft by the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCCA). Atlas Air, Korean Air, and Air Belgium are the owners of the remaining three 747-8Fs that aren’t in use.
