Although the 64-69t payload Airbus A330-200F is launched and in full development - with service entry set for late 2009 - and there are long-term plans for an A350-900F, Bob Dahl, project director at consultancy Air Cargo Management Group, says the disappearance of the A380F leaves the market for large freighters wide open to its rival in the short term.
He acknowledges that normal market forces are likely to see Boeing's pricing become firmer for its large freighters and that the US manufacturer "will be able to capture a high share of the market for large widebody freighters over the next several years".
Dahl suggests that one possible response from Airbus to fill the void could be a passenger-to-freighter conversion of its slow-selling twin-aisle quad, the A340. "The engineering effort for the A330-200F could lead Airbus to offer a conversion programme for ex-airline A340-500/600s," he says.
Flight International estimates that such a move could create a freighter in the 90-100t payload category.
Source: Flight International
