CDB Aviation orders twelve more A330 P2F conversions from EFW
CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., announced at the Singapore Airshow that it has committed to an additional twelve A330 P2F conversions with Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), bringing the company's A330 P2F fleet to fourteen aircraft. Furthermore, with lease commitments from Sichuan Airlines and Jiangxi Cargo Airlines, the lessor is on track to launch the A330-300 P2F freighter type in China in 2022.
"We have strategically positioned our platform to be the A330 P2F program frontrunner among lessors. We're very satisfied with this program'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," commented Patrick Hannigan, Chief Executive Officer, CDB Aviation.
CDB Aviation was among the first lessors to secure conversion commitments for the A330 P2F, signing a contract with EFW for two initial conversions in November 2020. With this latest order, the company will have fourteen EFW-converted A330 P2Fs in its fleet, making it the largest lessor of EFW-converted A330 P2Fs.
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.
"The A330 P2F program is proving highly popular and we now have over eighty aircraft on order. EFW is leading the overall A330 P2F program, which is a collaboration between ST Engineering, Airbus, and EFW. To ensure we can meet the rising demand for freighter conversions, EFW and ST Engineering are in the process of ramping up their conversion capacity," Andreas Sperl, Chief Executive Officer, EFW.
CDB Aviation will expand its global conversion footprint by becoming the first customer for A330 P2F conversions performed at ST Engineering's Shanghai, China and VT MAE's Mobile, Alabama, U.S.A. facilities.
These conversion sites have been added to EFW's existing A330 P2F conversion facilities in Dresden, Germany and ST Engineering's facility in Singapore. The lessor intends to convert aircraft simultaneously in three locations by the middle of 2022: Dresden, Shanghai and Mobile.
