Emirates SkyCargo orders five more Boeing 777 freighters

Emirates SkyCargo has placed an additional order for five more Boeing 777 freighters, with deliveries scheduled for 2025 and 2026, according to an official release from Emirates SkyCargo.

In July this year, Emirates SkyCargo announced a firm order for five Boeing 777 freighters with immediate delivery between 2025 and 2026. The July order was worth a billion US Dollars.

Including its previous orders, Emirates SkyCargo now has 14 Boeing 777 freighters awaiting delivery from Boeing, with all deliveries expected by the end of 2026.

In addition, Emirates has signed a multi-year lease extension with Dubai Aerospace Enterprise for four Boeing 777 freighters in its existing fleet. With these investments, by December 2026, Emirates SkyCargo expects to operate a fleet of 21 production-built Boeing 777 freighters, significantly expanding from its current fleet of 11, mentions the official release.

With the staggered delivery of its new aircraft, Emirates SkyCargo will retire older freighters, reinforcing the airline’s commitment to operating one of the youngest and most efficient fleets in the sky.

Emirates is also planning to decide on its future freighter fleet for the years 2028 and 2029 and beyond by the end of this year. The airline is evaluating the Boeing 777-8F and Airbus A350-1000F as potential options to enhance its cargo operations, the release added.

In an earlier interview to The STAT Trade Times, Nadeem Sultan, Senior Vice President, Freighters & Cargo Planning for Emirates, talked about the inordinate delay in the two new production freighter programmes from both Airbus (A350F) and Boeing (B777-8F).

“These are new freighters and they look promising. I would expect with any new aircraft type entering the industry, there might be some teething issues; there could be some delays. So to make sure that we protect the capacity we need, we're going down this route,” Sultan told us in the July interview explaining the reasons for adding more B747-400Fs on an ACMI basis to meet the demand.

Emirates has not placed an order for the new-generation wide-body production freighters from either Boeing or Airbus. However, Sultan confirmed in July this year that the carrier is evaluating both of them and a decision on the order is expected before the end of this year. “We will have a firm decision and hopefully an order put in place to secure the main deck freighter capacity for 2028 and beyond.”

The airline has plans to convert 10 Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft into freighters to increase capacity and support fleet growth.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group says, “We’re investing in new freighter aircraft to meet surging demand and provide our customers around the world with even more flexibility, connectivity, and options to leverage market opportunity.

“Demand for Emirates’ air cargo services has been booming. This reflects Dubai’s growing prominence as a preferred and trusted global logistics hub, and also the success of Emirates SkyCargo’s bespoke solutions that address the needs of shippers in different industry sectors.”

“Emirates continues to set the direction for our industry and we deeply appreciate the trust they have placed in the Boeing widebody family to serve as the backbone of their global fleet,” says Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We are proud to support Emirates SkyCargo’s growth as it relies on the performance and versatility of our 777 Freighter to further connect the world.”

Even as it inducts new freighter aircraft into its operations, Emirates’ cargo division will continue to harness the airline’s all-wide-body passenger fleet to facilitate the fast, reliable, and efficient movement of goods worldwide, offering customers more flexibility with a fleet mix comprised of 777s, 777-Fs, 747Fs, A350s, and A380s, the release added.