Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (ATSG), the world’s largest lessor of freighter aircraft, has committed to a total of 29 Airbus A330 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversion slots with Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), center of excellence for Airbus freighter conversions and a joint venture between ST Engineering and Airbus.

The commitment of 29 A330P2F reflects a strategic step by ATSG to diversify its existing in-service fleet of 117 aircraft with the addition of next generation wide-body freighters.

“The A330-300 passenger-to-freighter conversion is a natural next step for ATSG as it is an excellent complement to the Boeing 767-300 medium wide-body freighter, which has long been the freighter of choice for the e-commerce air cargo market,” stated Mike Berger, chief commercial officer of ATSG. “The availability of feedstock combined with impressive cargo capacity make the A330 a very attractive option for conversion and will enable ATSG to continue to meet the demands for full-capacity freighters long into the future. The customer response to the news that we will have A330-300 freighters available for lease has been exceptionally strong, and we already have customer deposits toward future leases for half of these 29 converted freighters.”

A330P2F conversions for ATSG will be performed from mid-2023 through 2027 mainly at EFW’s facility in Dresden, Germany

ATSG committs with Elbe Flugzeugwerke to a total of 29 A330P2F conversions, f.l.t.r.: Wolfgang Schmid, VP Sales & Marketing; Rich Corrado, President & CEO ATSG, Mike Berger, CCO ATSG

The A330P2F conversions for ATSG will be performed from mid-2023 through 2027 mainly at EFW’s facility in Dresden, Germany, and also at ST Engineering’s conversion sites in China. Multiple conversions will be carried out in parallel.

Similar to the latest conversion programmes, A321P2F and A320P2F, the A330P2F program is a collaboration between ST Engineering, Airbus and EFW, which is leading the overall programme as well as marketing & sales efforts. To meet the rising demand for freighter conversions, ST Engineering and EFW are setting up new conversion sites in China and the U.S. this year, and are ramping up conversion capacity for all their Airbus P2F programmes to about 60 slots per year by 2024.

The A330P2F program comes with two variants – the A330-200P2F and A330-300P2F – which are both equipped with advanced technology that offer airlines additional operational and economic benefits. The A330-200P2F can carry a gross payload of up to 61 tons of weight to over 7,700 km. The A330-300P2F offers a gross payload of up to 63 tons and a containerised volume of up to ~18,581ft³ (~526m³), which brings a new paradigm of efficiency with 23% more cargo volume than other freighter aircraft in the same class.

Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) is a joint venture between ST Engineering and Airbus.

Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) is a leading provider of aircraft leasing and cargo and passenger air transportation and related services to domestic and foreign air carriers and other companies that outsource their cargo and passenger air lift requirements. ATSG, through its leasing and airline subsidiaries, is the world’s largest lessor of freighter aircraft as well as the largest owner and operator of converted Boeing 767 freighters. Through its principal subsidiaries, including three airlines with separate and distinct U.S. FAA Part 121 Air Carrier certificates, ATSG provides aircraft leasing, air cargo lift, passenger ACMI and charter services, aircraft maintenance services and airport ground services. ATSG’s subsidiaries include ABX Air, Inc.; Airborne Global Solutions, Inc.; Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services, Inc., including its subsidiary, Pemco World Air Services, Inc.; ATI-Air Transport International, Inc.; Cargo Aircraft Management, Inc.; and Omni Air International, LLC.