Air France Cargo takes delivery of its first B777

Pierre Vellay, VP for new aircraft and fleet planning (centre) is pictured with Boeing’s Aldo Basile (left) and Larry Loftis.

Air France has taken delivery of the industry’s first B777 freighter at a ceremony in Washington State, US. The aircraft, registration F-GUOC, landed at Paris-Charles de Gaulle after its ferry flight from Seattle.

The airline has ordered five of the 100-tonne payload aircraft to replace older B747 freighters within its fleet.

Fuel consumption is estimated to be 18% less than that of the B747-400, with an equivalent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Air France already operates over 50 passenger B777s, bringing economies of scale through introducing the freighter version of the same type.
They can be flown by the same flight deck crews and for the most part use the same spare parts.

Air France currently operates five custom-built B747-400 extended range freighters and four B747-400 converted freighters.