Etihad Cargo adds A330 and 777 freighters to fleet
A regional A330P2F flies from December, and a converted B777-300ERSF follows after Chinese New Year, as Etihad Cargo head warns OEM freighter deliveries are lagging.
Etihad Cargo is adding main deck capacity faster than it had planned. It has bought two converted freighters that will take its fleet to eight aircraft by early 2027, years before its Airbus A350Fs arrive.
The first, an Airbus A330-200P2F that previously flew between Hungary and China, will join the fleet within the next two weeks and enter commercial service in early December. The second, a Boeing 777-300ERSF now undergoing conversion, is due early next year and is expected to start flying shortly after Chinese New Year.
Stanislas Brun, Chief Cargo Officer, Etihad Airways, said the carrier’s current freighter fleet stands at five aircraft plus one operated by Atlas. The A330 is a new type for the operation and comes from a decision to build a regional freighter role. “We decided, looking at the actual concepts, that we needed to have a regional freighter to deliver in the five to seven hours flight around Abu Dhabi. That’s why we went to look for the A330,” he said.
The aircraft’s first missions will include Dhaka, Tel Aviv and potentially Kuwait, with other destinations within that range to follow. Brun said the regional concept “was not necessarily immediate in the plan”, but demand across the Middle East and the wider region around Abu Dhabi has been rising. Many of these markets are served mainly by narrowbody aircraft, so the carrier wanted dedicated capacity to open regular freighter services.
This story was originally published by STAT Times. Read the full story at STAT Times →
Conversation