MD11 Operators - Freighters

page updated 21/12/12

Martinair MD11 PH-MCY on finals to LAX in March 2006.

Aeroflot had been trying to acquire MD11's for quite some time and through Boeing they signed a deal for 8 MD11's to be converted, leased from Boeing Capital. 5 Varig examples were part of the deal (including those leased to TAM), with the other 3 coming from Finnair. The first 2 were delivered mid 2008. This has now changed to a total of 6 aircraft, 3 former Varig a/c which are in service already and 3 from Finnair were due in 2009. The first aircraft had its freighter conversion in Italy and had final work carried out in Helsinki. Problems with the Russian authorites and red tape prevented the aircraft entering service but this was resolved and a 3 x weekly Frankfurt (Hahn)-Moscow-Almaty-Hong Kong service began. They now have 3 MD11's in service but plans to have 6 by 2009 and 8 by 2010 have stalled after the airline has suffered heavy losses.

VP-BDP cn 48502 (ex PP-VQF)
VP-BDQ cn 48504 (ex PP-VQH)
VP-BDR cn 48503 (ex PP-VQG)

The Aeroflot cargo web site is not unsurprisingly in Russian but there are some nice MD11 pictures on there.

Aeroflot Cargo web site - MD11 pictures

VP-BDQ pictured on finals to Frankfurt Hahn 21/06/08 (Photo courtesy of Markus Braun)

Avient are a cargo airline established in 1993 with its head offices in Harare, Zimbabwe and in the UK.  Operations began with DC10 freighters serving many African destiantions with flights to Europe where the main hub is Liege. An MD11 freighter was acquired in 2009 but sadly this aircraft was written off not long after entry into service at Shanghai. A second MD11 was later acquired and continues in service alongside a DC10 today.

Z-BAV cn 48408/457 (ex Korean Air & Varig Log), written off Shanghai PVG 28/11/2009
Z-BVT cn 48410/495 (ex Korean Air & Varig Log) Active

Avient cargo web site

Centurion Air Cargo acquired its first MD11F from Gemini Air Cargo in late 2008, A second and third, both former Alitalia MD11F's arrived later in 2009. They are based in Miami, FL and operate primarily to South America. An affiliate company Skylease cargo is operating 7 MD11's, some leased from/thorugh Centurion, their livery is similar too.

N984AR cn 48429
N985AR cn 48430
N988AR cn 48434

Check out their web site for more info including schedules;

Their first a/c is pictured below at the carriers home in Miami in a striking new livery for Centurion, still wearing its former Gemini registration N701GC (now N988AR).

Centurion Air Cargo's web site;

China Eastern operated 6 MD11F's. 5 of the 6 were MD11P's but were converted to freighters. All now operate under the China Cargo brand. They could be seen worldwide. In Europe they operated to Paris and Luxemburg amongst others. The MD11's were replaced by new B777 freighters between 2010-2011 with B-2170 the first left to leave the fleet in May 2010, going to Centurion Air Cargo, followed later in the year by B-2171/2173. The final 3 left the fleet in 2011 also to Centurion. However that is not the end of MD11 operations at China Cargo as in 2011 China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines merged, including cargo operations, so China Cargo inherited Shanghai Airlines' 3 MD11F's as part of the deal. At present B-2178 retains its Shanghai Airlines colours whilst the other 2 have been repainted.

B-2177 cn 48544 (ex N105EV)
B-2178 cn 48543 (ex B-16102)
B-2179 cn 48545 (ex B-16106)

After leasing various wide body freighters over a number of years, Ethiopian Airlines acquired 2 of thier own MD11F's in 2009. The first, ET-AML was delivered on 31st Jan 2009 and bought direct from Boeing, the second arrived in August 2009 and will be leased. A third is on the cards for late 2009. They fly to Leige in Europe.

ET-AML cn 48758 (PT-MSI TAM)
ET-AND cn 48780 (OH-LGE Finnair)

Eva Air operates 7 MD11 freighters of the 12 originally delivered to the airline. They did operate passenger services until 2004 with 3 MD11's (B-16101/2/3) and have now converted those aircraft into freighters. They operate mainly to Europe and North America . They have also operated  MD11's leased from World Airways on an ACMI basis over the years. 4 Aircraft have gone to Shangahi Cargo Airlines (102/3/5/6).

B-16107 cn 48546,  B-16111 cn 48787.
B-16108 cn 48778,  B-16112 cn 48789.
B-16108 cn 48779,  B-16113 cn 48790,
B-16110 cn 48786

Eva Cargo web site

Federal Express are the worlds largest MD11 operator with a fleet currently standing of 64 aircraft. They operate the first MD11 built, prototype N111MD now N601FE. Their major hub is Memphis, TN and their aircraft can be seen at a large portion of the worlds major airports. In the UK , they fly into Londons Stansted airport with up to 3 aircraft a day. N601-623FE were built as pure freighters, all the others are converted from passenger aircraft. 2 of the former TAM MD11's joined the fleet in 2009 after freighter conversion and the 4 former Transmile MD11's were acquired in 2011. 3 aircraft, N581FE, N611FE and N526FE were written off in 1999, 1997 and 2009 respectively.

N521FE cn 48478, N580FE cn 48471, N597FE cn 48596, N615FE cn 48767
N522FE cn 48476, N582FE cn 48420, N598FE cn 48597, N616FE cn 48747
N523FE cn 48479, N583FE cn 48421, N599FE cn 48598, N617FE cn 48748
N524FE cn 48480, N584FE cn 48436, N601FE cn 48401, N618FE cn 48754
N525FE cn 48565, N585FE cn 48481, N602FE cn 48402, N619FE cn 48770
N527FE cn 48601, N586FE cn 48487, N603FE cn 48459, N620FE cn 48791
N528FE cn 48623, N587FE cn 48489, N604FE cn 48460, N621FE cn 48792
N529FE cn 48624, N588FE cn 48490, N605FE cn 48514, N623FE cn 48794
N572FE cn 48755, N589FE cn 48491, N606FE cn 48602, N624FE cn 48443
N573FE cn 48769, N590FE cn 48505, N607FE cn 48547, N625FE cn 48753
N574FE cn 48499, N591FE cn 48527, N608FE cn 48548, N628FE cn 48447
N575FE cn 48500, N592FE cn 48550, N609FE cn 48549, N631FE cn 48454
N576FE cn 48501, N593FE cn 48551, N610FE cn 48603, N642FE cn 48485
N577FE cn 48469, N594FE cn 48552, N612FE cn 48605, N643FE cn 48486
N578FE cn 48458, N595FE cn 48553, N613FE cn 48749, N644FE cn 48444
N579FE cn 48470, N596FE cn 48554, N614FE cn 48528, N645FE cn 48446

Finnair were one of the launch customers for the MD11 and operated passenger flights until February 2009. Dedicated cargo flights commenced in May 2010 with a former passenger aircraft of thier own. A second followed shortly. Flights commenced from Helsinki to Seoul and Hong Kong with more destinations added.  Finnair and various Insurance capital companies set up Nordic Global Airlines (NGB) in 2011 to operate dedicated cargo flights. An MD11 has been recently operating from Ostend in Belgium to African destinations. The flights carry joint Nordic Global and Finnair flight numbers. The aircraft are rather unfortunatly painted all white with small Nordic Global Airlines titles. 

OH-LGC cn 48512
OH-LGG cn 48753
OH-NGA cn 48542

Finnair Cargo

Lufthansa Cargo have a fleet of 18 MD11F's. They had the last ever MD11 built at Long Beach before the production run was scrapped. They did want more aircraft but Boeing closed the line down although now they have sourced 5 ex passenger examples and converted them to freighters. Their MD11's can be seen worldwide, operating from bases in Frankfurt and Cologne and they also have 3 MD11's from World Airways operating for them from Europe to the USA. 1 aircraft, D-ALCQ was written off after crashing in Saudi Arabia in 2010.

D-ALCA cn 48781, D-ALCG cn 48799, D-ALCM cn 48805
D-ALCB cn 48782, D-ALCH cn 48801, D-ALCN cn 48806
D-ALCC cn 48783, D-ALCI cn 48800, D-ALCO cn 48413
D-ALCD cn 48784, D-ALCJ cn 48802, D-ALCP cn 48414
D-ALCE cn 48785, D-ALCK cn 48803, D-ALCR cn 48581
D-ALCF cn 48798, D-ALCL cn 48804, D-ACLS cn 48630

Cargo schedules are available from Lufthansa's web site. Click on the link below for more info.

Lufthansa Cargo's web site

Martinair operates 7 MD11's from its Amsterdam on freight services worldwide. They used to operate Summer IT charters to destinations such as Palma and Vancouver with their MD11CF's but this ceased in 2006 and the aircraft have had all the passenger support systems removed and are now pure freighters. They were the only other airline besides World Airways to order and operate the CF (convertable freighter).

PH-MCP (MD11CF) cn 48616 , PH-MCU (MD11F) cn 48757
PH-MCR (MD11CF) cn 48617 , PH-MCW (MD11F) cn 48788
PH-MCS (MD11CF) cn 48618 , PH-MCY (MD11F) cn 48445
PH-MCT (MD11CF) cn 48629

Saudi Arabian Airlines operates 5 MD11's. 4 are Freighters and 1 is a VIP transport. The VIP aircraft visit the UK occasionally whilst the freighters seldom do. They can best be seen in Brussels where they transit to/from New York.

HZ-ANA (MD11F) cn 48773, HZ-AND (MD11F) cn 48777
HZ-ANB (MD11F) cn 48775, HZ-HM7 (MD11P) cn 48532
HZ-ANC (MD11F) cn 48776

HZ-ANB suffered a heavy landing and nose gear damage at Khartoum in 2009. It was repaired and flown back to Jeddah and is still there, possibly being used as a spares source.

I've added a link for Saudi's web site as you can get the cargo schedules from there.

Saudi Arabian's web site

Shanghai Cargo Airlines were started as a joint venture between Shanghai Airlines, Eva Air and the Evergreen group and commenced cargo services in the Summer of 2006 late 2005 with an MD11F acquired from EVA Air. They have acquired 2 more MD11's from Eva in 2006 and 2007 respectively and recently taken delivery of their fourth MD11F, again from Eva. They operate out of Shangahi's Pu Dong International airport to destinations such as Mumbai, Macau, Frankfurt, Anchorage and Los Angeles.

B-2176 cn 48515 (ex B-16103)
B-2177 cn 48544 (ex N105EV)
B-2178 cn 48543 (ex B-16102)
B-2179 cn 48545 (ex B-16106)

Shanghai Cargo web site

B-2176 is seen at Macau in August 2005. (Photo courtesy of Nick Lack)

Skylease Cargo (GG/KYE) have been around in one form or another for around 20 years and are an affiliate of Centurion Air Cargo. After Tradewinds enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008 they were purchased by Sky Lease 1 and renamed in 2010. With the acquisition of Tradewinds came MD11 N986AR and in 2010 3 ex China Cargo MD11's joined the fleet as well. N950 and 951AR are all white with small operated by Skylease cargo titles near the nose whilst N986AR wears its old Centurion Air Cargo livery. In 2011 the 3 remaining China Cargo MD11's also joined the Skylease fleet. The later arrivals all wear a striking new livery very very similar to that of its affiliate Centurian Air Cargo but with different titles!

N950AR cn 48461, N954AR cn 48498
N951AR cn 48495, N955AR cn 48496
N952AR cn 48497, N986AR cn 48426
N953AR cn 48520

Above - N952AR of Skylease Cargo pictured recentyl on approach to Santiago, Chile. (Photo courtesy of Mauricio Carvajal A) whilst below is N986AR still its wearing former Alitalia colours is (Thanks to Robert Collazo for the picture)

UPS are now operating all 38 MD11F's ordered.All are ex passenger examples converted to freighter from airlines such as JAL, Varig, Thai and Swiss. They operate from their hub at Louisville, KY to many worldwide destinations but currently the only place to see their MD11's in Europe is Cologne.

N250UP cn 48745, N260UP cn 48418, N279UP cn 48573, N289UP cn 48455
N251UP cn 48744, N270UP cn 48576, N280UP cn 48634, N290UP cn 48456
N252UP cn 48768, N271UP cn 48572, N281UP cn 48538, N291UP cn 49477
N253UP cn 48439, N272UP cn 48571, N282UP cn 48452, N292UP cn 48566
N254UP cn 48406, N273UP cn 48574, N283UP cn 48484, N293UP cn 48473
N255UP cn 48404, N274UP cn 48575, N284UP cn 48541, N294UP cn 48472
N256UP cn 48405, N275UP cn 48774, N285UP cn 48457, N295UP cn 48475
N257UP cn 48541, N276UP cn 48579, N286UP cn 48453, N296UP cn 48474
N258UP cn 48416, N277UP cn 48578, N287UP cn 48539,
N259UP cn 48417, N278UP cn 48577, N288UP cn 48540

World Airways operate a fleet of 7 MD11's, 4 of which were freighters. They are based in Atlanta, GA. At one time up to 15 MD11's were in the fleet and their aircraft were often leased out short or long term to other carriers. Airlines such as  Air Canada, Eva Air,Lufthansa have used MD11 freighters from World whilst Aer Lingus, Air Jamaica, BWIA, Monarch and Malaysian have all leased passenger MD11's. World have also operated a lot of flights on behalf on the US military and until recently operated a 3 x weekly flight from Houston to Luanda and Malabo on behalf of Sonair for workers in the oil industry (with N278WA). In 2003/04 they increased their MD11 fleet with the acquisition of 3 former Delta aircraft though these have now left the fleet and gone for freighter conversion for a new life with UPS. N801DE was leased to Ethiopean Airlines until August 2006 and operating Addis Abbaba to Washington. 3 more MD11F's were acquired late 2008 from the bankrupt Gemini Air Cargo fleet and another from Finnair in 2009. In February 2012 the airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing a large mixed fleet and high labour costs. As part of this process the fleet has been greatly reduced and only 7 MD11's are left operating (as well as 2 B747's).

N271WA (MD11P) cn 48518 ,
N272WA (MD11P) cn 48437 ,
N273WA (MD11P) cn 48519 ,
N380WA (MD11F) cn 48407 
N381WA (MD11F) cn 48523
N382WA (MD11F) cn 48411
N383WA (MD11F) cn 48412

the following ex World Airways MD11's have returned to lessor;

N269WA (MD11P) cn 48450/479, for part out and scrap at Victorville, CA
N270WA (MD11P) cn 48449/455, for part out and scrap at Goodyear, AZ
N274WA (MD11F) cn 48633 /563, stored at Goodyear, AZ
N275WA (MD11F) cn 48631/579, stored at Goodyear, AZ
N276WA (MD11F) cn 48632/582, stored at Goodyear, AZ
N277WA (MD11P) cn 48743/590, stored at Goodyear, AZ
N278WA (MD11P) cn 48746/597, stored at Goodyear, AZ
N279WA (MD11F) cn 48756/623, stored at Victorville, CA
N384WA (MD11F) cn 48435/478, stored at Goodyear, AZ

World Airways web site