Air France Cargo’s B 747-400 ERF: first non stop commercial flight to Japan

Air France Cargo is the first airline to operate the new Boeing B 747-400 ERF. In October 2002, Air France Cargo started flying 3 Boeing 747-400 ERF and is committed to bring into the fleet  2 others already ordered, by 2005.

These three aircraft  cover regular routes to Shangaï, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Houston and Mexico City, and will gradually replace the current B747-200F.

In April, the B747-400 ERF is going to make its first non stop commercial flight from France to Japan, even though  other cargo airlines must stopover in Alaska or in Central Asia.

These new aircraft have a greater operating range (9,000 km as opposed to 6,400 km for the B 747-200F) and a larger payload (112 tons instead of 107 for the 200).

The engines consume less fuel and have significantly lower gas and noise emissions. With these aircraft the long-haul carrying capacity will increase from 35, 000 tons per year for a B 747-200 F to 50,000 tons for the B747-400 ERF.

By 2005, the overall annual capacity of the fleet should reach 495,000 tons.


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