Irish aircraft lessor CDB Aviation is on pace to launch the very first A330-300P2F converted freighter in China this year. The company, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing (CDB Leasing), has secured lease commitments from Sichuan Airlines and Jiangxi Cargo Airlines.

The company has ordered 12 more conversions of the A330-300 with EFW amidst strong demand in the Chinese market.

Chengdu-based Sichuan Airlines, which has three A330-200F jets in its fleet, has leased two of the A330-300 converted freighters, which will be delivered in late 2022 and the middle of 2023. Jiangxi Cargo Airlines, a startup cargo airline formed through a joint venture between the provincial government and Hongyuan Group, has leased one A330-300P2F to be delivered in early 2023.

CDB Aviation’s first two A330P2Fs are now being converted in EFW’s facility in Dresden, and will be re-delivered to its Mexican airline launch operator MasAir early this year. The lessor plans to have aircraft converted simultaneously at EFW’s facilities in Dresden, Shanghai, and Mobile in Alabama by the middle of 2022.

EFW said the A330P2F programme is proving highly popular with over eighty aircraft on order.