Based in Luxembourg, Cargolux is one of Europe’s largest cargo airlines.
Exactly eleven years ago today, on October 12, 2011, Boeing handed over the first 747-8F to Luxembourg Airport (LUX)-based air freight operator Cargolux.
The delivery ended a month-long disagreement over Cargolux's order with the Seattle planemaker. Cargolux was not happy with the performance of the General Electric GEnx-2B engines. After reaching an agreement with all the concerned parties, Aviation website Flight Global quotes Cargolux president and chief executive, Frank Reiman, as saying the following:
"I am pleased that we have reached an agreement on the contractual issues. The 747-8 Freighter will be a driver of profitable growth for Cargolux."
Founded in Luxembourg in 1970 by Luxair, private Icelandic airline Loftleiðir and the Salen Shipping Group, and other private companies, Cargolux began operations with a Canadair CL-44 freighter. By 1973 Cargolux had five CL-44s and a Douglas DC-8.
In 1978 Cargolux retired its turboprop-powered freighters and ordered Boeing 747s, with the first of many arriving in 1979. In 1983, Cargolux expanded, offering passenger Hajj pilgrimage flights to Saudi Arabia.
By 1999, Cargolux had ten Boeing 747s in its fleet and began flying new routes to Asia. In September 2011, Qatar Airways bought a 35% stake in the cargo airline, making it the second-largest shareholder after Luxair, which owned 43.4%. Following disagreements with the other shareholders, Qatar Airways sold its stake in Cargolux to the Government of Luxembourg, which then sold it to a Chinese investment company. As a part of the sale, Cargolux began flying to Zhengzhou in Henan, China.
According to the aviation and statistics website ch-aviation, the Cargolux fleet is made up of the following aircraft:
After introducing the Boeing 747-400 to the world, Boeing considered making a larger variant to compete with the double-decker Airbus A380. The result was the Boeing 747-8, a stretched version of the 747-400. Forecasting a production run of 300 aircraft, Boeing introduced the 747-8 on November 14, 2005. The first 747-8 freighter made its maiden flight on February 8, 2010, with the passenger version of the aircraft first taking to the air just over a year later on March 20, 2011.
Until the Boeing 777X debuted in 2020, the Boeing 747-8 was the world's longest airliner at 250 feet. Powered by the same General Electric GEnx turbofan engines used on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the Boeing 747-8Fs can carry 308,000 pounds of cargo 4,120 nautical miles. The passenger version of the aircraft, when configured in three classes, can carry 467 passengers 7,790 nautical miles.
As of May this year, Boeing had orders for 107 747-8Fs and 48 versions of the passenger airliner. The last Boeing 747-8 ever made is scheduled to be delivered to cargo carrier Atlas Air before the end of 2022.
Earlier this month, New York-headquartered cargo operator Atlas Air took delivery of the second Boeing 747-8F that it had ordered from Boeing. The plane flew from Paine Field Airport (PAE) in Everett, Washington, to Miami International Airport (MIA) in Florida. Atlas Air is expected to get the last Boeing 747-8F before the end of the year, after which Boeing will shut down its 747 assembly line ending the "Queen of the Skies" program.
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Journalist – Mark is an experienced travel journalist having published work in the industry for more than seven years. His enthusiasm for aviation news and wealth of experience lends itself to some excellent insight, with his work cited in Forbes amongst other publications. Based in Alicante, Spain.