Kuehne+Nagel has inked a long-term charter agreement with Atlas Air to operate the last two nose-loading Boeing 747-800F freighters to be produced by Airbus.

The Swiss freight forwarder will charter the entire capacity of these widebody freighters starting the third and fourth quarter of this year. The aircraft will fly volatile trade lanes, such as transpacific routes, it noted.

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Compared to its predecessor the 747-400F, the 747-8F version has 20 percent higher payload and 16 percent lower fuel consumption than the very capable 747-400F. 

Operating the world’s largest fleet of 747, Atlas Air ordered the last four production freighter versions of the Queen in January last year to capitalise on strong demand. It earlier inked a long-term lease deal with Alibaba logistics unit for two other B747-8F to add more capacity from China to the Americas.