Air Canada has leased two Boeing 767-300 freighters to Ethiopian Airlines Cargo, with the first already being prepared to join the African carrier. The two freighters, registered C-GHXI and C-GXHM, had been in storage at Kansas City International Airport (KCI) in Missouri since their withdrawal from service by the Canadian operator in April 2024. Both are factory-built 767-300F cargo variants rather than passenger-to-freighter conversions.
According to data obtained from Flightradar24, the first aircraft was ferried from Kansas City to Toronto on November 12, 2024, where it is being prepared for onward lease to Ethiopian. The second aircraft underwent a test flight on December 3, 2024, before ferrying up to Toronto to follow its sistership to East Africa.
According to FreightWaves, Ethiopian Airlines Cargo (the dedicated cargo division of Ethiopian Airlines), will operate the two additional aircraft alongside its existing freighter fleet. Currently, the airline deploys its all-cargo fleet comprising four Boeing 737-800Fs, three Boeing 767-300Fs, and 11 Boeing 777Fs on the carrier’s worldwide cargo network. The addition of the two Air Canada aircraft brings the operator’s total feet of dedicated freighters to 20 airplanes. This is in addition to the sizeable quantities of cargo carried in the belly holds of Ethiopian Airlines’ passenger fleet.
Ethiopian Cargo operates one of the largest air cargo networks on the continent of Africa and provides a vital link that connects the continent with global markets across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
The two airplanes being leased by Ethiopian Airlines from Air Canada were originally acquired by the Montreal-based carrier in June 2022 to expand the carrier’s cargo-only operations following an upturn in the industry following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, following the cooling of the market, the pair were temporarily retired and flown to Kansas City in April 2024 with their immediate future uncertain. However, that future now seems more secure with the two freighters having found a new lease of life with Ethiopian Airlines Cargo in Addis Ababa.
The leasing out of these two aircraft comes as Air Canada reconsiders the future of its Boeing 767 fleet, both freighters and passenger variants. In November 2024, the carrier unveiled plans to reintroduce two of its retired Boeing 767-300ERs to passenger service starting in February 2025. These aircraft, registered as C-FOCA and C-GLCA, are both over 33 years old and have been in storage at Hamilton International Airport (YHM) in Canada. However, with the ongoing delivery delays of new Boeing 787s to the airline, the two planes have been pressed back into action.
The carrier was once an extensive user of the popular Boeing widebody, having had over 40 examples of the 767 in its fleet at the peak. However, all aircraft had been retired from passenger flights by 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began to bite, rendering many airlines such as Air Canada with too much capacity and too few passengers.
The redeployment of this pair of passenger 767s will see the aircraft used exclusively on scheduled passenger operations from Toronto-Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS), Calgary International Airport (YYC), Edmonton International Airport (YEG), Montego Bay-Sangster International Airport (MBJ), and Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX). These Boeing 767s will operate in their original configurations of 24 lie-flat business class seats and 187 economy seats.