CDB Aviation has committed to an additional twelve conversions with Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), expanding its A330 P2F fleet to fourteen aircraft. Moreover, the lessor is on pace to launch the A330-300 P2F freighter type in China in 2022, with lease commitments from Sichuan Airlines and Jiangxi Cargo Airlines.
“We have strategically positioned our platform to be the A330 P2F programme frontrunner among lessors,” commented Patrick Hannigan, CDB Aviation’s Chief Executive Officer, adding that the A330 P2F marked the lessor’s first entry into the air cargo space. “We’re very satisfied with this programme’s progress and momentum to date and look forward to further expanding our freighter fleet in collaboration with our partners at Airbus, ST Engineering, and EFW.”
CDB Aviation’s first two A330 P2Fs are currently being converted in EFW’s facility in Dresden, Germany, and will be re-delivered to its launch operator, Mexico-based MasAir, in early 2022.
CDB Aviation will expand its global conversion footprint by becoming the first customer for A330 P2F conversions to take place in the facilities of ST Engineering in Shanghai, China and VT MAE in Mobile, Alabama, USA. These conversion locations have been added to the existing A330 P2F conversion facilities of EFW in Dresden, Germany and ST Engineering in Singapore. By the middle of 2022, the lessor plans to have aircraft converted simultaneously at three locations – in Dresden, Shanghai, and Mobile.