Elbe Flugzeugwerke has redelivered the fifth and final Airbus A330-200P2F freighter covered by its current agreement with EgyptAir Cargo, completing another phase of a partnership that spans nearly three decades.
The latest delivery marks the completion of the current five-aircraft A330-200 passenger-to-freighter conversion programme for EgyptAir Cargo. EgyptAir was the launch customer for EFW’s A330-200P2F programme and received its first converted aircraft in 2018. With the latest handover, EFW said it has now redelivered nine Airbus widebody freighters from different generations to EgyptAir from its facilities in Dresden, Germany.
The A330-200P2F programme is a collaboration involving ST Engineering Aerospace, Airbus and their joint venture EFW, with EFW responsible for the industrialisation, sales and marketing of the conversion programme. The wider A330P2F programme was launched in 2012 to convert existing A330 passenger aircraft into dedicated freighters.
EgyptAir Cargo received its first A330-200P2F in August 2018, following the aircraft’s conversion and certification. The second aircraft was delivered in February 2019, as the carrier began transitioning from its earlier A300-600P2F freighter generation to the A330 platform.
The A330-200P2F provides a combination of main-deck and lower-deck cargo capacity, together with the range and payload characteristics of the A330 platform. The conversion programme is aimed at extending the useful operating life of passenger aircraft while providing operators with additional widebody freighter capacity.
For EgyptAir Cargo, the latest aircraft completes another stage in its long-running relationship with EFW. The Dresden-based company has converted and redelivered freighters from multiple Airbus widebody generations to the Egyptian carrier over the course of the partnership.
“The completion of this project is another testament to the strong relationship between EgyptAir and EFW, built on mutual trust, technical excellence and a shared commitment to meeting the growing demand for efficient air cargo solutions,” said Lee London, SVP Sales & Marketing at EFW.
“We are proud to support EgyptAir’s cargo operations with highly capable and efficient freighter aircraft and thank the team for their continued confidence in our expertise,” London added.
Captain Ihab Eltahtawy, CEO and Chairman of EgyptAir Cargo, said the successful redelivery represented an important milestone in the cooperation between the two companies.
He highlighted EFW’s technical expertise and the close collaboration between the teams throughout the programme, adding that EgyptAir Cargo values its longstanding relationship with the conversion specialist.
The completion of the five-aircraft programme comes as passenger-to-freighter conversions continue to play an important role in the global freighter market, providing airlines and lessors with an alternative to acquiring newly built cargo aircraft and allowing existing widebody airframes to be redeployed for dedicated freight operations.
For EFW, the EgyptAir programme also reinforces the company’s position in the A330 freighter conversion market, while for EgyptAir Cargo, the latest redelivery adds another A330-200P2F to a fleet strategy built around widebody freighter capacity.
