Affected by the epidemic, airlines can be said to be in dire straits, and aircraft prices continue to fall. However, e-commerce sales have soared in measures such as home isolation. Amazon purchased 11 Boeing planes at a time to further expand its air transportation network.
According to media reports, Amazon announced on Tuesday that “it will purchase 11 second-hand Boeing 767-300 passenger jets from Delta Air Lines and WestJet. This is also its first direct purchase of shipping aircraft.”
It is reported that due to the impact of the epidemic, the number of passengers worldwide has been declining, and airlines have begun to reduce their fleets in response to the crisis. On the contrary, freight companies have seen a surge in online orders on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, and their shipping volumes have continued to increase.
Among the 11 aircraft purchased by Amazon this time, 4 are from WestJet Airlines and are currently being converted into cargo aircraft and are expected to be put into operation this year. The other seven are from Delta Air Lines and are expected to be operational in 2022.
Prior to this, Amazon’s shipping fleet has been operated through a lease agreement, but this is the first time that it has directly purchased aircraft. This has further led to speculation that it will get rid of its dependence on UPS and FedEx.
Amazon said that by the end of 2022, its aviation fleet will have 85 leased aircraft and its own aircraft, which will be able to better complete logistics and transportation and further enhance the customer’s shopping experience.
Amazon, Delta Air Lines, and WestJet all declined to disclose the price of this transaction.
However, data from the aviation consulting company Ascend by Cirium shows that the price of the Boeing 767-300ER in mid-December fell by 15% compared to the beginning of 2020. Delta Air Lines aircraft has a history of 20 years, and the price of each aircraft is usually between 13 million U.S. dollars and nearly 14 million U.S. dollars.
At present, some airlines have accelerated the pace of aircraft retirement. Delta Air Lines said in June that it plans to retire seven Boeing 767-300ER aircraft by the end of 2020. It was announced again in October that it plans to retire the remaining 49 767-300ER aircraft by the end of 2025. It is understood that the Boeing 767-300ER can carry between 181 and 375 passengers, with a maximum take-off weight of 186.88 tons, a maximum fuel capacity of 91380 liters, and a range of 11,305 kilometers. It is the most produced model of the Boeing 767 series.
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