Stratos (Monaco) has announced the delivery of an A330-300 converted freighter to GEODIS (France) on a long-term operating lease. The aircraft, 2006 vintage MSN713, was returned from AirAsia X through an early termination agreement in mid-2020 and converted to a full-freighter. Stratos identified an early opportunity to repurpose the aircraft into a freighter at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, subsequently leasing the freighter to logistics giant GEODIS to enhance its own dedicated air network. GEODIS has contracted Titan Airways (U.K.) to provide CMI services to operate the aircraft to Asia, Europe and the U.S.
Elbe Flugzeugwerke (Dresden, Germany) performed the freighter conversion and heavy maintenance, Lufthansa Technik provided CAMO and flight services, Rolls-Royce & Partners Finance (U.K.) provided a replacement engine, Dale Aviation (France) performed maintenance and engineering services, while Civil Aviation Services (Ireland) supported GEODIS on all technical-related aspects. The owners are a series of SME’s invested through a Japan-domiciled fund managed by JP Lease. For legal support, K&L Gates (Tokyo) acted for the lessor, Norton Rose (London) acted for the lessee.