Tasman Cargo Airlines CEO: Widebody aircraft delivery delays major challenge for cargo carriers

Tasman Cargo Airlines CEO Kim Rasmussen, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific, stated (29-Jul-2026) widebody aircraft delivery delays are "one of the biggest challenges globally" for cargo carriers. Mr Rasmussen noted: "There's plenty of [passenger to freighter] conversions taking place for narrowbody aircraft", but widebody delivery delays are "a double whammy for the cargo operators, in the sense of not getting the deliveries of the production freighters coming out", while passenger airlines also continue operating widebodies previously allocated for conversion to freighter configuration, due to delays in delivery of replacement widebodies for passenger services. He added: "We're probably years away, maybe even five, to [deliveries of widebody freight aircraft] being up to where the demand actually sits today on a global level".