Market Presence. The B747-400F was originally developed in the 1990s but the first example destined for Air France had to be parked for two years before it was delivered to Cargolux due to the downturn that was impacting the market in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. However, by the mid 1990s the market was beginning to improve and lease rentals actually rose for the -400F although the Asian Crisis at the end of the 1990s caused a monetary lapse. At this time, there was no conversion for the -400 passenger aircraft and operators were still very much reliant on the -200SFs and the production -400Fs. The events of 2001 saw a rapid fall in lease rentals which latest a until 2004 when the market picked up once more. In the next few years there was rapid growth in the airfreight market with the China-U.S. and China-Europe routes requiring considerable capacity. This prompted the development of the -400 passenger conversion program but the rates for the -400F increased once more.
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