Air China Cargo confirms Airbus A350F order
Air China Cargo had sought its shareholders' approval for the order.
Air China Cargo, which had sought shareholders’ approval for an order for the Airbus A350F, officially has a purchase agreement for six A350F aircraft, marking the type’s potential fifth order in 2025. This does not yet include Korean Air’s switch from the A350-1000 to the A350F.
On November 14, 2025, Airbus confirmed that Air China Cargo “signed a purchase agreement” for six A350F aircraft, becoming the European planemaker’s first Chinese customer to buy the next-generation freighter in mainland China, which does not include Hong Kong. (Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific has orders for six A350Fs).
Airbus pointed out that Air China Cargo is the country’s “only cargo airline that carries the national flag,” and since 2025, it has been operating its aircraft throughout China, as well as other major regions and cities around the world.
Air China Cargo confirmed that its shareholders approved the provisional order in a shareholders’ meeting on November 14, with 99.9% of its investors affirming the deal.
The Chinese cargo carrier initially unveiled the intention to order the A350F to its shareholders on October 27. Then, the airline said in a Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) filing that its intention is to order up to 10 A350F aircraft, split between six firm and four optional purchases. “The latest exercise date is the end of 2026,” Air China Cargo noted.
According to Air China Cargo, the planned delivery dates for the 10 are between 2029 and 2031, with the total transaction value being $4.65 billion at list prices as of January 2024.
“Through fair negotiation, Airbus has granted the Company a substantial price discount; therefore, the actual transaction consideration will be lower than the catalog price. It is standard commercial practice in the global aviation industry to disclose catalog prices rather than actual purchase prices.”
As of October 30, Airbus had secured 74 orders from 12 customers for the A350F, including gross orders for 20 A350Fs in 2025. During the year, one undisclosed customer ordered three freighters, while STARLUX Airlines, AviLease, and most recently, MNG Airlines Cargo purchased five, 10, and two A350Fs, respectively.
However, Air Lease Corporation (ALC) canceled its A350F order for seven aircraft of the type. During the lessor’s Q2 earnings call on August 4, John Plueger, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ALC, stated that while the A350F “terrific freighter,” the lessor “simply decided to stick with new passenger airliners versus venturing into new freighters.”
Plueger highlighted that contractually, “the majority of our A350F aircraft were more than a year late,” with the cancellation freeing up more than $1 billion in forward-looking capital expenditures (CapEx) commitments.
While it does not technically count as a new order, Korean Air also switched up its order book by converting seven orders for the A350-1000 to the A350F on October 31. The latter is based on the former’s airframe.
Rytis Beresnevicius
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