Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) has signed a lease contract with Jetran to add five B777-200LR(MF) aircraft converted by Mammoth Freighters. The carrier will become the global launch operator of the type.
"This additional freighter capacity will be instrumental in advancing our fleet growth and expanding the premium cargo services we provide to customers worldwide," chief officer (cargo) at Qatar Airways, Mark Drusch, said.
The companies did not disclose a timeline for the delivery of the aircraft.
The announcement accompanied the first test flight of N705DN (msn 29742), the first converted freighter completed by Mammoth Freighters, on May 1. The 16.1-year-old ex-Delta Air Lines aircraft has been under conversion at the Aspire MRO facility at Fort Worth Alliance since 2022. Mammoth hopes to obtain the type certification for the conversion in July or August 2025.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Jetran owns four more B777-200LRs currently undergoing conversion at Fort Worth Alliance, including three more ex-Delta units and one ex-Qatar Airways. Two more units of the type, one ex-Delta and one ex-Qatar, are under conversion at the STS Aviation Services facility at Manchester airport.
Qatar Airways' current freighter fleet comprises twenty-eight production B777-200Fs.
Once certified, the -200LR(MF) will be the first conversion based on the B777-200 variant. All other conversion variants currently under development - Israel Aerospace Industries' B777-300(ERSF), Mammoth's B777-300ER(MF), and Kansas Modification Center's B777-300ER(CF) - are based on the B777-300ER.
Mammoth Freighters said it had 35 orders for its B777 conversions. Cargojet Airways was previously designated as the launch customer, having ordered both the -200LR(MF)s and the -300ER(MF)s, but it subsequently dropped the entire order amid the slump in the global air cargo market. DHL Express plans to take nine B777-200LR(MF)s.
