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A total of 850 aircraft, or 50% of the active fleet, are operated or controlled by just four express companies or integrators. About 300 aircraft are operated by combination carriers, while about 50 are operated by ACMIs, which are companies that offer the aircraft as a complete package including crew and maintenance. The balance of the fleet is operated by specialised freight companies, many of whom have less than five aircraft. Among the 1,696 aircraft included in this Global Market Forecast (GMF) are 49 quick-change aircraft, which can be converted from an all-passenger role to all-cargo role in a few hours. There are also 61 combi aircraft, which carry both passengers and freight on the main deck. The role of combis will diminish over time, as they are gradually converted into full freighters. No new combis have been delivered to airlines since 2002 and only ten small freighter jets have been converted into combis or quick-change aircraft since 2000. The GMF assumes that freighters are generally definitively retired at 35 years of age. Small freighters are typically retired after 37 years of operation, while combis are converted into full freighters at 20 years of age. Over the next 20 years, 83% of the current fleet, or some 1,225 freighter aircraft, will be definitely withdrawn from use. Almost 500 of these will be small jets, for which retirements will accelerate from 2010. Long-range freighters will see smoother retirement patterns, starting by the middle of the next decade. Large freighter retirements will be marked by a large wave of 747 freighter removals starting after 2015. |
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