Air Cargo China gears up for fleet of eight A330P2Fs
11 / 12 / 2023
Photo: EFW
Air China Cargo is set to begin operating Airbus freighters soon with the first of eight A330P2Fs (passenger to freighter) due to join the airline’s fleet at the end of this year.
The Chinese cargo airline and German freighter conversion firm Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) closed a firm contract on eight A330P2F conversion slots early this year.
“All A330 conversion candidate aircraft are owned by Air China Cargo. As the belly cargo capacity of all Air China passenger aircraft is exclusively operated by Air China Cargo, the airline which is the only cargo airline operating with the national flag, could gain extensive experience on running Airbus aircraft for cargo,” said EFW in a LinkedIn post.
“To enforce our freighter fleet by Airbus conversion freighter was a natural step,” says Hongyan Wang, vice president of Air China.
The first A330 aircraft is currently with conversion partner Ameco Beijing and is scheduled for redelivery at the end of the year. Meanwhile, a second aircraft has been inducted in parallel.
“We are glad that Air China Cargo will operate for the first time Airbus freighter and we are looking forward to seeing soon an A330P2F with the Air China Cargo livery,” says Jordi Boto, chief executive of EFW, a joint venture by ST Engineering and Airbus.
Air China Cargo currently operates nine Boeing 777Fs, three Boeing 747-400Fs and one Boeing 757-200F (currently not in service).
In May, EFW received validation of its Supplement Type Certification (V-STC) by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for its Airbus A330 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) aircraft conversion programme.
