Air Canada Set To Start Flying 767 Freighters To Frankfurt

Air Canada is set to start flying its converted Boeing 767 cargo aircraft to Frankfurt Airport later this year on a regular basis. Rather than disposing of its Boeing 767 aircraft, the Canadian carrier decided to put them to use with a second life as freighters following the huge demand that such types have seen since the onset of the pandemic.

Frankfurt Airport is one of the busiest in Europe when it comes to freight traffic. In addition to its regular passenger traffic, the airport welcomes freight in the bellies of passenger planes, such as British Airways' A380s, alongside dedicated cargo aircraft such as those flown by Lufthansa Cargo. Despite suppressed passenger traffic 2021 was a record year for cargo at Germany's busiest airport.

Air Canada's freighters are coming

Throughout the pandemic, Air Canada continued to operate a robust schedule of transatlantic flights from its home to Germany. Undoubtedly, cargo will have played a role in these flights. It seems that demand for cargo on such routes is so high that air Canada has enough for dedicated freighters.

While the airline is yet to reveal a start date for these regular flights, it will start operating freight-only flights to the key cargo hub later this year. To facilitate this arrival, the airline has increased its cargo handling capacity at the airport by 35%. The airline already uses 5,000 square meters of space for its cargo operations at the facility. This won't be the first time that the converted aircraft have visited Frankfurt. The first aircraft, C-FPCA, flew to Frankfurt eight times in December 2021.

Air Canada, Cargo Boeing 767, Frankfurt Airport

The Boeing 767s have been converted from the airline's passenger fleet. Photo: Air Canada

Commenting on the planned transatlantic launch, John Lloyd, director for Europe, Middle East, and India at Air Canada Cargo, remarked,

"This represents a significant improvement for Air Canada Cargo in Frankfurt as the cargo base plays a key role in our global route network. In addition, we are increasing our potential by ramping up handling with the expected start of regular freighter operations at this key hub."

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A large Air Canada hub pre-COVID

Frankfurt has traditionally been a large hub for Air Canada, even before the pandemic. According to schedule data from Cirium, the airline's operations at the airport peaked in July and August 2019 with 186 flights to the airport each month. This equates to 6 flights a day from multiple Canadian cities.

Air Canada's Frankfurt service is expected to top 2019 levels in May (bi-directional data shown). Data: Cirium

Across most of the industry, the worst month experienced was April 2020. Interestingly, this wasn't the case for Air Canada's Frankfurt Airport Operations. According to Cirium's data, 50 flights were scheduled for April 2020. Just 34 were planned for April 2021, however.

February 2022 sees 77 flights scheduled (2.75 per day). July and August are set to be the busiest months this year with 155 flights each (5 a day). It should be noted that this has the potential to change as the COVID-19 situation develops.