Boeing and MSC Air Cargo announced on 21 July 2026 in Farnborough, in the United Kingdom, during the Farnborough International Airshow, an order for five Boeing 777-8 Freighters. It is the MSC group cargo carrier’s first order for the new model, which will join the Boeing 777-200F fleet already in service. According to the manufacturer, the 777-8 Freighter will be the largest twin-engine freighter in its segment, combining technologies developed for the 777X family with the features already valued by operators of the current 777 Freighter. Boeing describes it as the model offering the highest payload, as well as the lowest fuel consumption, emissions and operating costs per tonne among large freighter aircraft currently on the market. Boeing has so far secured more than 80 orders for the 777-8 Freighter, and MSC Air Cargo is the third European cargo operator to select the model.
"With this order, we are investing in the long-term future of MSC Air Cargo and in the customers we serve," said Jannie Davel, chief executive of MSC Air Cargo. The order comes as MSC consolidates the structure of its Air Cargo division, launched in September 2022 with the aim of making it operational from the first months of 2023. The project began with four Boeing 777-200F aircraft bearing the MSC logo but operated by Atlas Air under an ACMI arrangement: the first aircraft was delivered in November 2022, the first commercial flights took off the following month, and the second aircraft joined the fleet in July 2023.
In August 2023, MSC acquired a majority stake in AlisCargo Airlines, completing the full acquisition in 2024 and thereby obtaining its own Italian operating licence. The first 777F registered in Italy, I-MSCA, Alfirk, was delivered in June 2024. The second Italian aircraft, I-MSCB, Bellatrix, arrived on 14 January 2026, delivered at the Everett Delivery Centre in Washington state and bound for its Malpensa base. By June 2026, a third Italian aircraft, I-MSCC, was also operational, taking the group’s overall fleet towards the seven aircraft planned by the end of the year.
MSC Air Cargo’s operating model therefore rests on two tracks: aircraft managed through the ACMI agreement with Atlas Air, which provides the aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance; and directly owned aircraft operated by MSC Air, the Italian subsidiary with its own national air operator certificate. This dual structure allows the group to progressively stabilise scheduling, product standards and capacity availability, although it also entails a growing need for crews and technical infrastructure. The fleet expansion in 2025-2026, with the arrival of the new 777F aircraft, follows a year of operational growth marked by new routes between Europe and Asia and a stronger digital network.
