Having recently ventured into air cargo, the CMA CGM Group announced the purchase of two new Boeing 777 Freighters to grow the its air freight division operations. 

Boeing 777 freighters can carry 102 tonnes of cargo with a maximum range of 9,200 km, allowing the company to make fewer stops on its cargo flights. It is also Boeing's top-selling freighter of all time.

“CMA CGM Air Cargo represents a major new component of the CMA CGM Group in both operational and commercial terms. It is also a new milestone in the Group’s strategic development into logistics,” CMA CGM said in a statement.

CMA CGM Group launched its dedicated air freight division, CMA CGM AIR CARGO, in February 2021, commencing commercial operations in March with its first flight between Liege (Belgium) and Chicago, followed by flights to New York, Atlanta, and Dubai — which it tagged as a new milestone in the Group’s strategic development into logistics.

The company started its air cargo division with a fleet of four Airbus A330-200F freighter aircraft which have maximum payload of 60 tonnes. 

Due to widespread container shipping congestion and delays, shippers have explored alternate solutions in air freight, particularly on the Asia-US routes when land-based alternatives are unavailable.