DHL Express has become the first operator to take delivery of an A330-300 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) converted aircraft from Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW).
DHL Express has become the first operator to take delivery of the A330-300 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) converted aircraft from Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), the joint venture between ST Aerospace and Airbus.
The delivery, which took place on 1st December at EFW's freighter conversion facilities in Dresden, follows the successful completion of test flights in October and awarding of the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in November.
DHL Express has firm orders for eight A330-300P2F units in total, with additional options to receive another 10. The company says the first aircraft will be used to strengthen its Asia-Pacific air network, which is experiencing dynamic express volume growth.
The A330P2F conversion programme, launched in 2012, is a collaboration between ST Aerospace, Airbus and their joint venture EFW. ST Aerospace, as the programme and technical lead for the engineering development phase, is responsible for applying for the STCs from EASA and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Airbus contributes to the programme with OEM data and certification support, while EFW leads the industrialisation phase and marketing for the freighter conversion programme.
The A330P2F programme has two variants – the A330-200P2F and the larger A330-300P2F. The latter can carry up to 62 metric tonnes over 3,650 nautical miles, while offering 20% more cargo volume and lower cost-per-tonne than other available freighter aircraft types with a similar range.