Airbus received an order for three A350 freighters from an undisclosed customer in January, alongside a previously announced Starlux Airlines order for five additional units of the new generation freighter.
Data released by Airbus today shows that three A350Fs were ordered by the mystery customer on 8 January.
This preceded Starlux’s firm order for five more A350Fs after entering the freighter market last year with an initial order of five A350Fs.
The Taiwan-based airline’s order was announced by Airbus and the airline itself on 9 January, although Airbus has recorded the order as being made on 17 January.
This indicates it is possible the undisclosed order occurred on an earlier date than listed.
Airbus has not publicly commented on the order, but some previously announced A350F customers have been familiar with the A350 passenger model.
The widebody A350F has a payload of up to 111 tonnes and is currently under development with the first aircraft expected to be delivered in 2026.
Including this latest mystery order, a total of 66 units of the A350F have been ordered by various customers.
In December 2023, Airbus secured an order from Turkish Airlines for five A350Fs, to add to its current 19 A350-900s.
In the same month, Cathay Cargo placed an order for six of the aircraft, with the right to order 20 more. The carrier currently has 29 A350-900s and 16 A350-1000s.
Air France-KLM Group also ordered four A350Fs in January 2023 for operation by Martinair on behalf of KLM Cargo and currently has 29 A350-900s in service.
This followed a December 2021 order for four A350Fs to be operated by Air France, with the order confirmed in April 2022.
In February 2022, Singapore Airlines firmed up an order for seven A350Fs, Silk Way West Airlines ordered two of the model in June that year, while Etihad Cargo firmed up an order for seven two months afterwards, later increasing to 10 of the model.
Then back in November 2021, US lessor Air Lease ordered seven A350Fs and shipping firm CMA CGM ordered four for CMA CGM Air Cargo, but the order was doubled in April 2024.
Boeing is also developing a new freighter, expected to enter the market in 2028, based on its developmental 777-8 widebody.
The model has so far accumulated 55 orders from carriers such as Qatar Airways, Cargolux and All Nippon Airways.
However, orders of Boeing’s new aircraft have slowed down. Taiwan based China Airlines announced plans to order four 777-8Fs in December, with deliveries expected from 2029.
But before China Airlines’ order, the last confirmed order came from Silkway West in November 2021.
