Air China Cargo’s first A330P2F takes flight

Air China Cargo has put its first converted Airbus freighter into operation, according to Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW).

The cargo carrier carried out its first flight with its new Airbus A330 passenger to freighter (P2F) aircraft on June 3, said the German conversion firm in a LinkedIn post.

“The first flight of the A330P2F took off yesterday from Chengdu, China heading towards Europe, Paris and back. The aircraft will be operated on this route on its new mission for air cargo during the coming weeks,” said EFW, a subsidiary of ST Engineering and Airbus.

Last year, EFW and Air China Cargo struck a deal for EFW to redeliver eight A330P2Fs, converted from Air China’s own stock.

The first of these was delivered to Air China Cargo at the end of last year by EFW’s conversion partner, Ameco Beijing.

According to its website, Air China Cargo currently has nine Boeing 777 freighters and three Boeing 747-400 freighters in its fleet. In addition, Air China Cargo also exclusively manages the belly cargo of all Air China’s passenger aircraft.

In May last year, EFW received validation of its Supplement Type Certification (V-STC) by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) for its Airbus A330P2F aircraft conversion programme.

A number of other companies have taken delivery of A330P2F aircraft from EFW in the last year.

Last month, the conversion company redelivered its 14th Airbus A330-300 passenger to freighter (P2F) to DHL.

Australian airline Qantas took delivery of its second A330-200P2F aircraft in December 2023.

And in October last year, Amazon Air undertook the “first in-service flight” with the first of 10 EFW-converted A330-300P2Fs that it has leased for operation by Hawaiian Airlines.

Air Cargo China gears up for fleet of eight A330P2Fs

EFW receives Chinese validation of its A330P2F STC