EgyptAir shelves plans for more freighters

EgyptAir has reportedly decided not to take any more converted freighters beyond the two it currently operates and another one soon joining the fleet. All three A330-200P2Fs were previously in passenger service with the Cairo-based carrier.

Speaking to African Aerospace, Ahmed Adel, EgyptAir’s new chairman and chief executive, said that the airline’s cargo division will not go ahead with plans to operate a freighter fleet of eight converted aircraft, including two A320/A321s, because of the downturn in the airfreight market. EgyptAir had also originally planned to launch a freighter flight to Chicago (ORD) using an A330F, but this has also been shelved due to the launch of a three-times-weekly flight to Washington D.C. (IAD) with a 787-9 in June 2019 and the additional belly space that flight offers.

EgyptAir Cargo took redelivery of its first A330-200P2F (600) in August 2018 and the second (709) in February 2019. The third (610) was ferried to the Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) facilities in Dresden (DRS) to be inducted for conversion in January 2019. The carrier told Cargo Facts in June 2019 that it was expecting to receive unit 610 from EFW in the third quarter of 2019, and that it was planning additional A330 conversions. EgyptAir Cargo removed its two remaining A300-600Fs (607 and 561) in February 2019 and at the end of June 2019 respectively.

During Cargo Facts Symposium, EFW told Cargo Facts that it was still working on unit 610 but that it was hoping to redeliver the aircraft before the end of the year.