Southern Air 77F's
 

I am currently sat in HKG and I received a message earlier that due in later is N774SA in DHL colours instead of Thai colours. Have both triples ended the contract with Thai? Just curious..

Saw it on the ramp in HKG last night!

Edit:
I cannot recall the tail number, but it did have the yellow DHL tail and "Southern Air" in black down the side.

Defo a SOO B777F working for DHL, if not 2

Southern B777 in Lej with DHL tail paintings on 12th on the DHL apron.

Southern indeed. It's operating CVG-BAH-HKG-CVG, alternating with a Polar 744F. Rumours has it the 777F offers double the payload, burning 40% less fuel, on the 15+ hour HKG-CVG sector.

What are the loads the 777 has carried? I find it hard to believe it's carrying 90 Tonnes...

.... kinda even harder to believe there is freight demand from Hong Kong to Cincinnati. And from Cinncinnati to Bahrain? Who'd a thunk it?

K

CVG is the DHL hub in the US. Virtually all international traffic goes through the sort there. HKG is obviously a good hub for SE Asia; maybe BAH is cheaper than DXB for the Middle East...

B777F ---

DOW 142000 KGS( approx. varies subject config/crew/etc. )
MZFW 248115 KGS
MTOW 347451 KGS
MLW 260815 KGS

Burn off is in the neighbourhood of 8500 kgs / hr ...

So, with wee bit short of 106 tons payload you still can fly a looong way.

Yes, I see all those raw numbers, but it still doesn't give us the REAL payload on a REAL 15+ hour flight with REAL reserves...

re:
 

payload on 14h20 flight should be 84-86 tons, and 11000ft runway ( including safety distance )
ken

Someone else has already provided you with the numbers you were looking for, trust that settles any doubts you had on the payload/range capability of the aircraft.

As for the above, it sounds as if the information you have does not reflect the actual world. Some of DHL's international traffic does indeed go through CVG, but instead of being "virtually all" it's rather "a pretty small part". As for choosing BAH over DXB it could of course have to do with cost. It could also be because BAH is where DHL have their Middle East freight ce ntre, just like HKG is where they have their main Asian ditto.

This is where a sanity check would have been appropriate.

In context, I was referring to international traffic to and from the US. I don't know if you just didn't [want to] understand the context, or if you know there are other international DHL hubs in the US...

Intruder I did not intentionally misunderstand you. As for other intl. DHL hubs in the US, I suppose MIA and JFK would also qualify.

KBPsen I'll see if I can have one my contacts dig up real-life numbers for comparison.

CVG-BAH-HKG-CVG (generally) has been a basic Polar DHL run for a few years now. Strong rumor has it that most all Polar B-744’s will also soon be painted in DHL’s colors.

Interesting on how the DHL/Polar side of AAWW has not hired in many years, yet the expanding Southern Air camel’s nose now appears to be under their tent.

After all these claims, I find it interesting that as of last night (according to one of the Southern 777 Capts in CVG) Southern had not yet flown the direct CVG-BAH segment. They had just completed their trans-Atlantic qual CVG-LEJ, and were anticipating the start of the CVG-BAH direct flight.

Also, his HKG-CVG load was 117,000 lb, or 53 Tonnes, which is marginally higher than the typical 744 load of 45-47 T...

Intruder

SOO had to operate back and forth over the pond for ETOPS qualification. I'm still waiting to be fed allowed payload on a typical HKG-CVG flight, will get back to you on that. It is, however, interesting to note it loaded 53 tons on your mates flight, which is "marginally better" to order of around 10 tons ......



burning 40% less fuel ...

I haven't argued the fuel burn at all. However, a 13% load increase is a LOT less than the "double" claimed earlier.

I'm not concerned with book figures or "could have" figures. I'm concerned with reality of the operation...

And, indeed, ETOPS qualification is a REAL concern. While the costs of the qualification will be recovered in the long run, they are significant at the start.