Atlas Air, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, on Wednesday said it had taken delivery of one of two nose-loading Boeing 747-8 freighter jets it will operate for logistics business Kuehne+Nagel.
John Dietrich, US-based Atlas Air Worldwide’s president and chief executive, said the delivery, the third of four 747-8s it ordered from Boeing, would add versatility and capacity to the Kuehne+Nagel air, sea and road network, which takes in 1,300 locations in over 100 countries.
Yngve Ruud, a Kuehne+Nagel board member responsible for air logistics, said the addition of the aircraft would help “support our customers with reliable and flexible solutions globally”.
According to Atlas Air statement, “the 747-8F offers a 16% improvement in fuel use and CO2 emissions per tonne and a 30% smaller noise footprint compared to the previous generation of aircraft”.
Boeing’s Kim Smith, the vice president of its 747/767 programme, said the purchase by Atlas would mean a 747 would “continue to move cargo around the world for decades to come”.
Boeing announced in January 2021 that it would stop making its 747 range this year after more than five decades of production, citing the need to come up with more fuel-efficient models.
