Amazon Air, the global e-commerce company’s cargo airline, will no longer have only Boeing jets in its fleet. The company has entered into a leasing agreement for 10 A330-300P2F freighters with the company Altavair.
The Airbus jets will be operated by Hawaiian Airlines as Amazon does not have an operational structure. The US airline has been an A330 customer since 2010.
The ten widebody jets were converted from passenger to cargo by Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), which is owned by Airbus.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Airbus to our Amazon Air fleet,” said Philippe Karam, Director, Amazon Global Air Fleet & Sourcing. “These A330-300s will not only be the first of their kind in our fleet, they’ll also be the newest, largest aircraft for Amazon Air, allowing us to deliver more customer packages with each flight.”
The first A330-300P2F is expected to join Amazon’s fleet at the end of 2023. The company currently has 55 Boeing 767s, 29 Boeing 737-800BCFs and five ATR 72 turboprops.
Amazon has made use of a contracted fleet to enable its fast delivery system.
“The endorsement of our freighters by Amazon speaks volumes about the market value of the A330 and the position Airbus wide-bodies are gaining in the cargo market,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International.
Airbus converts both the larger-capacity A330-300 and the A330-200, with more capacity.
With advanced Airbus technology that includes fly-by-wire flight controls, the A330 offers an extremely capable platform for freighter conversion. Since the A330’s service entry in 1994, more than 1,700 A330s have been ordered, with more than 1,500 delivered – providing a large source of aircraft to support P2F conversions for many years.
While both A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft are eligible for conversion, the longer-fuselage A330-300P2F is particularly suited for integrators and express carriers, due to its high volumetric payload capability with lower-density cargo.
