FedEx Express will buy six more B777 freighters and increase its fleet of the long-range,large-capacity cargo planes to 38 over the coming decade.
The company has agreed to purchase four additional B777F aircraft from Boeing, one to bedelivered in FedEx’s fiscal year ending May 31, 2012, and three for delivery in fiscal 2013,FedEx said in a stock exchange filing yesterday.
Separately, FedEx Express has entered into a letter of intent to acquire two B777F aircraft fromanother party. The acquisition of these two aircraft is subject to the negotiation and execution ofa definitive purchase agreement, as well as the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent, thecompany stated.
Accordingly, FedEx Express has agreed (or entered into a letter of intent) to purchase a totalof 38 B777F aircraft (34 from Boeing and four from other parties) and holds options to purchase upto 15 additional B777F aircraft from Boeing.
To date, a total of six B777F aircraft have been delivered to FedEx Express. Most of theremaining 32 B777F aircraft are currently expected to be delivered over the next five years, withsix in fiscal year 2011, five in 2012, five in 2013, three in 2014 and three in 2015. The remaining10 are scheduled for delivery in subsequent years.
This delivery schedule, with 25 B777s by end-2014, speeds up the previous one, which foresaw afleet of 15 B777s by the end of fiscal year 2014.
The 777F can fly nonstop up to 10,740km, which is 3,890km further than the MD-11 freighter,which until now has been the primary long-haul aircraft in the FedEx fleet. FedEx has said thefreighters will normally have long-distance revenue payload capacity of 178,000 pounds (81 metrictons), which is 14,000 pounds more than the MD-11F. These benefits will enable FedEx to fly furtherand faster between major world regions and with greater capacity than in the past. In addition, thefreighter delivers environmental benefits to FedEx operations and the aircraft’s state-of-the-artengine technology reduces emissions by 18%.
FedEx noted that its capital expenditures for fiscal 2010 are still expected to be approximately$2.9 billion.
