DHL Express has ordered nine B777-200(LR)(MF) converted freighters from Jetran, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2024 and continue through early 2027 to replace ageing B747 uplift.
DHL currently charters six B747-400(F)s (three B747-400(BCF)s and three B747-400FSCDs) from Kalitta Air (K4, Detroit Willow Run). The German integrator did not reveal whether the B777-200(LR)(MF)s will also be placed with the American operator.
"The aircraft will be deployed across our own and partner airlines," a company spokesperson told ch-aviation.
The new order will complement the logistics integrator's existing order book for twenty-eight production B777-200Fs, of which it has so far has taken 18, with the remaining ten due for delivery by 2025. The ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows that delivered aircraft are in service with UK's DHL Air (three, with one more already allocated), Singapore Airlines (two, with three more already allocated), Germany's AeroLogic (six), and Kalitta Air (four). The aircraft are owned through the DHL Worldwide Express and DHL International units.
DHL said the B777-200(LR)(MF) will offer performance specifications comparable to production freighters.
The conversion variant, which has yet to be certified, is being developed by Mammoth Freighters, a company backed by Fortress Investment Group which had originally aimed to certify both the B777-200(LR)(MF) - which will be the first conversion STC for the B777-200 in any variant - and the B777-300(ER)(MF) in the second half of 2023.
The ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows that Jetran currently owns four B777-200(LR)s. The first unit to undergo conversion for DHL Express, according to Cargo Facts, will be N708DN (msn 39254), a 14-year-old jet formerly operated by Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson).
