TOULOUSE: CMA CGM Group has signed an MoU with Airbus for four A350 freighters, adding to a fleet of five A330-200Fs operated by its air cargo division.

The A350F is based on the A350-1000 passenger aircraft with 70 percent made from composite materials. The result is a 30-tonne lighter airframe producing a 20 percent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to a B777-200. Airbus says the aircraft will have a 109-tonne payload – three more than the Boeing equivalent – and 11 percent more useable volume.

First deliveries are scheduled for 2025, two years before new ICAO emission standards come into force.

”Thanks to its composite airframe and latest technology engines, it will bring unbeatable efficiency in terms of fuel burn, economics and CO₂ emissions,” said Airbus CCO Christian Scherer. “Having an early endorsement by such an international cargo powerhouse as the CMA CGM Group is very gratifying.”

As an alternative to truck-related emissions, CMA CGM says it will begin weekly block train services between Duisburg, Germany and the southern France ports of Fos and Marseille offering customers 96 and 105 TEU capacity respectively.

Beginning in January 2022, the two-day service is an intermodal alternative for Asia-related traffic via Fos and Turkey and North Africa trades via Marseille.