Cargolux may buy five Boeing jets, says iPhone shipments strong

Cargolux is in talks with Boeing (BA.N) to buy five more 747-8F freighter jets, the chief executive of Europe’s largest all-freight carrier said on Tuesday.

Such a deal could be worth $1.9 billion at list prices.

The aircraft would serve a planned joint venture between Cargolux and its 35-percent shareholder Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment (HNCA) to be based in Zhengzhou, north central China.

"At this moment the plan is to purchase another five 747s for the project which will be based in China, on top of the existing fleet,” Chief Executive Dirk Reich told Reuters after taking delivery of the 13th out of 14 of the 747-8 freighters that the Luxembourg-based carrier has already ordered.

Plans for the new Cargolux China airline are expected to be finalised before the end of the year with a view to starting flights in early 2017, Reich said in an interview.

Cargolux already operates a hub at Zhenghzhou, home to the main production base of Apple's APPL.O primary iPhone assembler, also known as Foxconn.

Shipments from there have surged in recent weeks amid strong demand for the latest models, he said.

"Especially in the last weeks before the weekend of the (iPhone 6s) introduction, we have seen big shipments from China to all over the world particularly the U.S.," Reich said.

"It looks like the sales are in the same range as they were last year, so it is an early sign of the high season for air freight starting."

Apple (AAPL.O) said on Monday it had sold more than 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Pluses during their first weekend of availability in 12 markets: a record for its marquee product.