Receiving the validation for both the A330-200 and -300 is a major milestone for the programme as customers with A330s registered in China can easily undergo conversions, whether at MRO sites in China or other countries.
Jordi Boto, CEO of EFW, says, “Offering conversions in China to serve the high demand in this growing market was an important strategic decision for EFW. We are very pleased to have successfully started this journey together with CDB Aviation, our first customer with A330P2F conversions on three continents, and we are very grateful for the trust they have placed in us.”
Validation in China comes as EFW delivered its first A330P2F converted in China to CDB Aviation, which is being leased to Sichuan Airlines.
It was converted at ST Engineering’s airframe facility in Shanghai, Shanghai Technologies Aerospace Company.
Jie Chen, CEO of CDB Aviation, says, “We are grateful to the Sichuan Airlines team for trusting CDB Aviation to be a partner in supporting their innovative fleet strategy and for becoming our first A330 P2F customer in China. This aircraft will be a superb addition to their fleet as the airline continues to serve the country’s rapidly expanding air cargo market.”
To meet demand, EFW and ST Engineering have set up 9 conversion sites for A320s, A321s and A330s.
In China, there is also an A330P2F conversion site in Chengdu and A321P2F sites in Guangzhou and Tianjin, the latter being a third-party site operated by Haite.
The A330-200P2F has a gross payload of 60 tons and a maximum range of 7,700 kilometres, and the larger -300 has a gross payload of 62 tons and a containerised volume of up to 526m3.