TNT Airways has signed an agreement with Guggenheim Aviation Partners, LLC for the delivery and leasing of three new Boeing 777-200 long-range freighters. The first aircraft is slated to be delivered and enter into service by July of 2011. The remaining two planes will be in service by the end of 2011, TNT said. The B777 freighters will operate on long-haul routes between Europe and Asia, where TNT currently operates four B747-400ERFs, two of them owned and two on short-term lease. The new aircraft will reduce TNT's reliance on commercial linehaul and external short-term contract capacity, while supplying space in support of the company's growth in Asia. The B777 carries a maximum payload of 107 tons, compared with 117 tons for the B747. However, it carries more payload than a 747 over distances greater than 13,000 kilometers, according to TNT.
