To meet increased demand for its air cargo services, UPS has ordered 14 Boeing 747- cargo jets and four new Boeing 767 aircraft.

According to UPS these aircraft are to be added to its existing fleet with no aircraft retired.

UPS state that these new planes will be delivered on an ‘expedited schedule’, adding to an existing order of 14 Boeing 747-8s. The 32 jets in total will be delivered by the end of 2022, and will add more than 9 million lbs of cargo capacity to the flight.

Currently, UPS air cargo flight of aircraft includes more than 500 owned and leased planes. UPS received three new 747-8 aircraft in 2017 alone.

“Our intra-U.S. next-day and deferred air shipments are expanding to record levels, and UPS’s International segment has produced four consecutive quarters of double-digit export shipment growth,” said David Abney, UPS chairman and CEO. “To support this strong customer demand, we continue to invest in additional air capacity, providing the critical link our customers need to markets around the world.”

The jumbo jet Boeing 747-8 freighters can carry up to 46 aircraft shipping containers, and have a capacity of 307,600lbs. Meanwhile the 767 has a capacity of 132,200lbs and a capacity of 31 containers. UPS currently runs 59 of these worldwide.