Hungary Airlines to start A330-200P2F CMI for ZTO Express

China-based ZTO Express is entering the widebody-freighter market with the addition of its first A330-200P2F. Hungary Airlines will operate the 2006-vintage aircraft (780, ex-Air China) in CMI service on the express company’s behalf, the carrier told Cargo Facts . [caption id="attachment_57295705" align="aligncenter" width="1513"] Unit 780 left the EFW facility in January after completing conversion. (Courtesy/EFW)[/caption] CMI operations will begin around the end of March between China and Europe, Hungary Airlines said. The Trent 700-powered unit 780, which arrived in Chengdu (CTU) in mid-January after eleven months in Dresden (DRS) for conversion with EFW, now wears a full ZTO livery with Hungary Airlines titles, according to a photo on Chinese social media. The aircraft has not been in commercial service since exiting passenger service with Air China in late 2021. This marks ZTO Express’ first time having a fully branded freighter of its own. While one of Tianjin Air Cargo’s 737-800BCFs (32602) features partial ZTO branding, Cargo Facts believes that freighter may not entirely be dedicated to the express company. Unit 780 will be the second aircraft to join the fleet of Hungary Airlines. The carrier started flying a 2014-vintage production A330-200F (1578, ex-Qatar Airways) on dry lease from the Hungarian government after getting its AOC in late 2024, and previously told Cargo Facts that it hoped to add more A330 freighters. Hungary Airlines also has a 777-300ERSF operated on an ACMI basis on its behalf by Air Atlanta Europe. Fly Meta assigned that 2005-vintage aircraft (32788) to Air Atlanta after leasing it from AerCap in November 2025. A second 777-300ERSF will join that operation in 2026. ZTO Express is the latest Chinese express company to directly source its own freighters as opposed to wet leasing or chartering. Four others have set up their own AOCs: JD Airlines, which in January started flying its first A330-200P2F ; YTO Cargo Airlines ; China Postal Airlines ; and SF Airlines , the largest freighter operator in China. Cargo Facts will present four invaluable events for airfreight professionals in 2026, the next of which is <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://cargofactsevents.com/asia/?utm_campaign=22235567-CF%20Asia%202026&utm_source=Editorial&utm_medium=article%20event%20footer&utm_term=CF%20website&utm_content=Learn%20More&utm_source=Weekly+Update+-+Cargo+Facts&utm_campaign=fbe548904b-CF+Update_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_621baa6827-fbe548904b-40083601&mc_cid=fbe548904b&mc_eid=adbe8bb0b4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cargo Facts Asia on March 23-25. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com .

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