Air Hong Kong set to retire its last Airbus A300 freighter
The last aircraft, registered as B-LDB, made its final flight on June 23, 2025, operating from Osaka Kansai (KIX) to Hong Kong (HKG).
Image: DHLIn a major historic development, Air Hong Kong, an all-cargo airline based at Hong Kong International Airport, is set to retire its only operational Airbus A300F4-600 freighter.
Although sources had indicated that Air Hong Kong would retire its last operational Airbus A300F4-600 freighter on June 20, 2025, the aircraft registered made its final flight on June 23, operating from Osaka Kansai (KIX) to Hong Kong (HKG).
Registered as B-LDB, MSN 856 is a 21-year-old aircraft operated by Air Hong Kong for DHL. The aircraft will be transferred to ASL Airlines Ireland and re-registered as EI-LDB, where it will continue operating for DHL.
Air Hong Kong, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cathay Group, has historically operated a fleet of 14 Airbus A300 freighters, confirms the data of Planespotters.net.
The airline, which primarily serves DHL, had earlier announced plans to replace its ageing A300F fleet with Airbus A330-300P2F (passenger-to-freighter) aircraft, aiming to transition to a single-type fleet by 2025.
The cargo carrier currently operates a fleet of 15 aircraft, comprising 14 Airbus A330 freighters and one Airbus A300F4-600 (B-LDB), its only remaining operational unit of the type. Of the A330 freighters, four are A330-200Fs and ten are A330-300P2Fs, all operated for DHL.
Notably, the retirement of Air Hong Kong’s remaining Airbus A300 freighter was delayed by nearly a year. The airline had originally planned to retire its A300 freighter fleet in 2024, but the timeline was pushed back to 2025. This was initially revealed to The STAT Trade Times by Tom Owen, Director, Cathay Cargo, during an episode of Cargo Masterminds aired in November 2023.
The Summer 2025 schedule (effective from 30 March to 25 October 2025) lists the destinations Air Hong Kong will serve from its hub in Hong Kong, including cities such as Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo (NRT), Nagoya, Singapore, Manila, Cebu, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, and Bangkok.
Air Hong Kong reported a profit of HK$807 million for 2024, up from HK$778 million in 2023. During the year, flight capacity measured in available freight tonne kilometres rose by 1.6% to 894 million.
