New Airbus A350 Order

Airbus has secured another order for its highly touted A350 Freighter, with Air China Cargo selecting the jet.

The subsidiary of Air China, revealed in a stock exchange filing, flagged by Airinsight, confirmed the intention to purchase up to 10 of the upcoming dedicated A350 Freighter aircraft.

The purchase is part of Air China Cargo’s efforts to revamp its freight fleet moving forward and, with the delivery of these state-of-the-art A350 jets, become more efficient.

With shareholder approval still required for the deal to go ahead, this is scheduled for November 14, 2025, when shareholders will come together to give the purchase the green light.

Once all is said and done, Air China Cargo would take at least 6 units over 2 years from 2029 through 2031. The order consists of 10 planes, comprising six firm orders and four additional options.

The deal, valued at US$4.65 billion at list price, follows what Air China Cargo describes as fair negotiations between the two, which enabled the business to secure a significant price discount.

Discounts on list price are not uncommon; every order comes with a hefty discount. Airlines or freight providers rarely pay the full list price for their new aircraft; however, the parameters of the final deal are often not confirmed.

Launch Updates For The Freighter

It has been a busy period for the Airbus A350F, headlined by the confirmation in February 2025 that the jet would be delayed to 2027.

The planemaker said that while it had outlined a 2026 first delivery and a first flight in the back end of 2025, after much analysis and an evolving set of circumstances, it became apparent that meeting this timeline would not be possible.

With supply chain constraints and other challenges, while work continued to build the first model of the game-changing freighter, Airbus decided to temper its expectations, outlining a hopeful launch of the A350F in the second half of 2027 at the earliest.

Airbus, while it has faced some scepticism from customers who have been patiently waiting, believes an early-2028 launch is more likely, but has held firm and is still pushing ahead with a 2027 launch.

That launch is now aided by work having fully commenced a month ago on the assembly of the first A350F, after several critical parts of the jet—such as the centre and rear fuselage sections and the wings —had been shipped to Toulouse from the centre.

A350F Order Changes

Aside from progress on the development of the first unit, it has also been a busy year for the jet regarding its backlog, which has undergone some dramatic shifts.

Air Lease Corporation, one of the earliest adopters of the dedicated freighter, chose to axe its entire order for the plane to refocus primarily on passenger operations moving forward.

The lessor believed adding a brand-new freighter to its evolving portfolio of aircraft would further complicate matters and instead chose to stick with what it knows: passenger planes.

As a result, CMA CGM, a French logistics firm, confirmed that it would become the launch customer and take delivery of the first A350 Freighter in the second half of 2027.

Additionally, Air France-KLM, throughout this year, stated that it would reduce the number of dedicated freighters it would take delivery of, notably as seen through July’s trimming of an order destined for Martinair in response to cargo demand.

While the backlog has taken a few hits over the last couple of months, this game-changing freighter will make the splash Airbus intends to make in the industry and compete with Boeing’s upcoming 777-8F.

As more freighter providers in the coming years need to evolve their operations and purchase more efficient freighters to take them forward for the next 20 to 30 years, this is where Airbus sees its A350F thriving.