Air China Cargo and Ameco have announced together with Airbus and Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), the customer release to service (CRS) of the first Airbus A330P2F (Passenger-to-Freighter) platform for Air China Cargo. This aircraft is the first of more to come, as EFW and Air China Cargo closed a firm contract earlier in 2023 for EFW to redeliver eight A330P2F converted freighters.

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 experiences on operating Airbus aircraft for cargo. “To enforce our freighter fleet with Airbus converted freighters was a natural step,” said Hongyan Wang, Vice president of Air China.

The first A330 aircraft was inducted at EFW’s conversion partner Ameco in the Chengdu facility end Q1 2023 and has been redelivered as per schedule in time. A second aircraft has been already inducted in parallel undergoing the conversion.

“We are glad about the re-delivery and that Air China Cargo will operate Airbus converted freighters for the first time. We are looking forward to seeing soon an A330P2F with the Air China Cargo livery on its air freight mission,” said Jordi Boto, CEO of EFW.