Amazon Air (or Prime Air as its branded) has signed a firm agreement to lease ten A330-300P2F freighters from Altavair, taking advantage of the A330’s capacity to help fulfil its one-day delivery promise to Amazon Prime customers.
The aircraft will be operated for Amazon by Hawaiian Airlines, which has had A330s as a key element of its fleet since 2010.
The ten airframes are being converted from passenger aircraft to freighters by Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW).
Amazon Air transports customer packages over longer distances in shorter timeframes to deliver on its customer promise of fast, free delivery.
The first of their A330-300P2F aircraft is expected to join the Amazon Air fleet in late 2023.
Airbus has delivered over 1,500 Airbus A330 family aircraft so far – which provides feedstock and a source of aircraft to support Passenger to Freight 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.
The A330P2F conversion program, launched in 2012, is a collaboration between ST Aerospace, Airbus and their joint venture EFW.
In Quotes
Philippe Karam, Director, of Amazon Global Air Fleet & Sourcing said
“We’re thrilled to welcome Airbus to our Amazon Air fleet,”
“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.”
Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International.
“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,”
“Amazon has built a reputation around delivering their goods to our doorsteps with extraordinary speed and consistency, and we’re very proud that our aircraft are trusted to become a key link in that remarkable logistics chain.”
Expanding the fleet
Amazon Air has various companies contracting for them, with different equipment with 97 aircraft operating under the banner. They include:
- Silver Airways (ATR72-500F)
- Atlas Air (Boeing 737-800BCF, Boeing 767BCF)
- Sun Country Airlines (Boeing 737-800BCF)
- ASL Airlines Ireland(Boeing 737-800BCF)
- Air Transport International (Boeing 767-200, Boeing 767-300BCF)
- ABX Air (Boeing 767-200)
- CargoJet Airways (Boeing 767-300BCF)
The majority of the fleet is using 767-based aircraft, with shorter deliveries being handled by the ATR and Boeing 737 aircraft
The move marks the first time that Amazon Air is moving into the wide-body Airbus equipment. It will be interesting to see how the airline utilities them, as well as how they’re deployed
As well as how they stand up against the existing Boeing 767-300ER converted fleet.
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