AELF takes off with reconfigured A330

AELF FlightService, a newly established division of Aircraft Engine Lease Finance (AELF), has kicked off its wet-leasing and charter business, flying a reconfigured A330-200 (MSN 700) to transport cargo on behalf of Ukraine-based Windrose Airlines and Ukraine’s national postal service.

[caption id="attachment_93389" align="alignright" width="500"] AELF expects to soon fly all four of its A330-200s in temporarily reconfigured cargo layout. (Photo: AELF FlightService)[/caption] AELF told Air Cargo World that, in addition to MSN 700 (previously operated by Turkey-based AtlasGlobal), three other A330-200s in its portfolio are also expected to soon start flying in a reconfigured layout with seats removed. One of them, MSN 472, recently completed a heavy check at the Atitech MRO facility in Naples (NAP) and has already been modified.

Another, MSN 871, was purchased from Airbus, which used it as a demonstration aircraft and never installed a full interior on it. With only around 700 flight hours, this aircraft is completing its heavy check at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) facility in Tel Aviv (TLV) and will be outfitted with the auxiliary cargo STC, according to AELF.

The active A330, MSN 700, which was removed from passenger service at the end of 2019 and brought to NAP in late February, will be flown for fourteen months from Kyiv (KBP) to cities such as New York (JFK) and Hong Kong (HKG). The aircraft is being operated by Malta-based Maleth-Aero, which has already been operating three A340-600s reconfigured for cargo, according to Cargo Facts’ Passenger-Freighter Database .

AELF, which previously only offered aircraft for dry lease, said it had begun planning the FlightService venture in mid-2019, and had been integrating a partnership with a U.S.-based ACMI operator and another in Europe predominantly for the passenger market. However, after the onset of the pandemic, that was no longer feasible and AELF opted to develop its own ACMI and charter business, partly looking to supplement the loss of belly capacity with passenger aircraft reconfigured as auxiliary freighters.

AELF told Cargo Facts it is “giving in-depth consideration” to expanding into the full-freighter market in the long term; the company is currently evaluating feedstock options for both 767s and A330-300s, and is in discussions with both Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) and IAI. AELF recently acquired a 1994 767-300ER (26260, ex-Blue Panorama Airlines) and may also look at converting the four A330-200s it already owns.

The status of an ACMI deal with 21 Air using two reconfigured A330-200s is unclear; the deal was announced at the end of August, with AELF saying it continues to explore mutually beneficial opportunities to work together with the North Carolina-based carrier.