SINGAPORE: Airbus SE is ready to meet the strong demand for widebody freighter aircraft in Asia Pacific with its all-new A350F as the region is forecasted to need some 145 large widebody freighters in the next 20 years.
Airbus head of freighter marketing, Crawford Hamilton said the A350F would reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by up to 40 per cent compared with the previous generation of Boeing B747F.
The aircraft is also the first freighter that would meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) enhanced carbon emissions standards in 2027.
"Why do we launch (the A350F)? First of all, our customers came to us and they said 'we want somebody else in this space'. At the moment in the large freighter (market), Boeing has 100 per cent market share.
"What they (customers) said was 'we want some competition in this market' and Airbus - it was designed at the start of this company to bring competition to the market," Hamilton said in a media briefing during the Singapore Airshow 2024 this week.
He added that Airbus plans to strengthen its presence in the air freighter market in two phases.
The first phase includes converting the A330 and A320 family passenger aircraft into freighters while phase two is developing new production freighter aircraft which is the A350F.
Hamilton said the A350F could serve all major cargo markets including the world's biggest freight route between Hong Kong and Anchorage as it could fly up to 4700 nautical miles or 8700 kilometres at a lower cost than other freighter airplanes.
"The A350F can carry a payload of up to 111 tonnes and features the largest main deck cargo door in the industry…Over 70 per cent of the airframes is made of advanced materials resulting in a 46 tonne lighter take-off weight than the competing derivative," he said.
Overall, Airbus forecasted 2510 freighter aircraft to be in demand globally from 2023-2042.
A total of 1,020 aircraft from the total airplanes will be single-aisle freighters (of which 450 freighters are needed in the Asia Pacific) while the mid-size widebody freighters will be 890 (250 aircraft in Asia Pacific).
In the large widebody aircraft category, 600 freights would be in demand globally of which 145 would be in Asia Pacific.
Hamilton said the assembly of the first A350F fuselage sections is set to commence in the next few months in line with the aircraft's production time frame.
The aircraft is set to enter into service in 2026. Some of the firm orders include four each from French logistics company, CMA-CGM, Air France, KLM-Martinair Cargo and undisclosed client as well as seven each from Etihad, Sinapore Airlines and Air Lease Corporation.
Other clients include Turkish Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Azerbaijan's cargo airline Silkway West Airlines.
"With APAC set to become the largest region for international trade over the next two decades, the A350F, with its step change in efficiency, market matched capacity, and range, it is perfectly tailored to improve operations of the carriers by meeting diverse cargo demands while leading the change towards a more sustainable future in air freight," Hamilton said.