UPS to introduce second-hand Boeing 747-8Fs in 2024

UPS, the United States (US)-based shipping company that also has its own airline, will introduce to used Boeing 747-8Fs into its fleet in 2024.

According to its annual report filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), its future commitments include “seven new and used Boeing 767-300 aircraft to be delivered in 2023, 21 new Boeing 767-300 aircraft to be delivered between 2024 and 2026, and two used Boeing 747-8F aircraft to be delivered in 2024”.

UPS currently operates 292 aircraft, of which 28 are the 747-8F, according to ch-aviation.com data.

Boeing ended the production of the Boeing 747 on January 31, 2023, delivering the final 747-8F to Atlas Air, which will operate the aircraft on behalf of Apex Logistics, a subsidiary of the shipping company Kuehne+Nagel. In total, Boeing delivered 1,574 of the aircraft type, which has been known as the Queen of The Skies since Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) operated the first commercial flight with the 747 on January 22, 1970.

Meanwhile, the manufacturer introduced the 747-8, the last iteration of the Jumbo Jet, in 2005. Cargolux, a Luxembourg-based cargo airline, operated the first 747-8F on October 12, 2011, and Boeing delivered 155 747-8s: 48 passenger and 107 cargo-only aircraft.

According to ch-aviation.com data, 15 of the 107 Boeing 747-Fs delivered to airlines globally are currently inactive. 12 of these are owned by AirBridge Cargo, a Russia-based airline that suspended operations in March 2022 when sanctions related to Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine affected lease agreements, and the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCCA) suspended airworthiness certificates for aircraft operated by companies based in Russia.

The three other inactive 747-8Fs are owned by Atlas Air, Korean Air, and Air Belgium.