MASkargo resumes freighter ops in Europe

Malaysia Airlines’ airfreight arm, MASkargo, has flown a freighter to Europe for the first time in more than four years. The eight-year-old A330-200F (1136) arrived in Amsterdam (AMS) on May 4, from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) via Dubai (DWC).

The first flight transported more than 50 tonnes of general cargo and medical equipment. According to the carrier’s timetable, this AMS rotation will be operated once a week. Other cities served by the A330F include: Penang (PEN), Kota Kinabalu (BKI), Kuching (KCH), Shanghai (PVG), Hong Kong (HKG), Singapore (SIN), Hanoi (HAN), Tokyo (NRT) and Sydney (SYD).

Malaysia Airlines previously operated freighter services to Frankfurt (FRA) and AMS, but pulled out of FRA at the end of May 2015, and consolidated its presence at AMS with five weekly frequencies. The carrier then terminated its freighter operation at AMS in early March 2016, and instead entered into a strategic partnership with Azerbaijan-based Silk Way West Airlines for capacity to and from Europe.

Unit 1136 is one of three production A330Fs Malaysia Airlines has, along with units 1148 and 1180. The carrier had a fourth A330-200F (1164) until 2017, when it was returned off lease to DVB Bank and sent to Marana (MZJ) for storage. Unit 1164 was then seen in Royal Jordanian colors for a few months and was ultimately acquired by Turkish Airlines in 2018.

Malaysia Airlines also had two production 747-400Fs (28434 and 29902) but these were withdrawn from service and joined Silk Way West in 2018.