Reuters- Qantas Airways will add six converted Airbus SE (OTC: EADSY) A321 freighters to its domestic fleet to replace five ageing Boeing 737s and meet online shopping demand.
The A321 freighters will be purchased on the open market and converted from passenger to cargo planes, the airline said. They are slated to arrive between early 2024 and mid-2026.
The freighters will join three A321s currently in the airline’s domestic cargo fleet. The A321s can carry 23 tonnes of cargo, nine tonnes more than the 737s.
Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas, said that the airline’s freight business had a record first-half profit because more Australians were shopping online.
“While some of this shift is transient, demand remains well above pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, a big company that changes A321 freighters into other types of planes, said that the planes are sold out until 2025.
Because there weren’t enough passenger planes that could carry cargo, freight costs went up, older planes like MD-11s didn’t get retired on time, and lessors had to turn unused passenger planes into freighters.
High inflation and a worsening economy are making it harder for airlines to sell cargo, which helped them get through the flu epidemic.aging
