Awesome Cargo grows fleet with EFW’s first A330P2F delivery
The aircraft, MSN 1252, is 13.8 years old and was originally operated by Alitalia and later by ITA Airways.
Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) has completed the first of three A330 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) aircraft redeliveries to Air Lease Corporation, a major global lessor with a fleet of over 800 owned, managed, and on-order aircraft.
The redelivered A330-200P2F aircraft will be operated by Mexican airline Awesome Cargo. It is the first A330P2F aircraft to be registered in Mexico after EFW received the validated supplemental type certificate (V-STC) for its A330-200P2F and A330-300P2F solutions by the Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil Mexico (AFAC) in November 2024, according to an official release by EFW.
The aircraft, MSN 1252, is 13.8 years old and was originally operated by Alitalia. It was later transferred to ITA Airways and subsequently acquired by Air Lease Corporation.
The remaining two A330-200P2F aircraft to be redelivered to Awesome Cargo are also former Alitalia models. These include MSN 1218, which is 14.2 years old, and MSN 1225, aged 14.1 years.
Notably, MSN 1225 is currently active in service with Awesome Cargo. According to data from Flightradar24, its most recent flight was on June 5, operating from Anchorage (ANC) to Mexico City (NLU).
Both MSN 1218 and MSN 1225 have no main-deck cargo door and have been interim-converted for cargo operations. EFW will carry out full passenger-to-freighter conversions on these aircraft to equip them for dedicated cargo operations.
The new converted freighter is fitted with a flight crew rest compartment and centre fuel tanks, enabling both medium- and long-haul operations on routes such as those between Mexico and China. It also features a powered cargo loading system designed to handle extra-large or heavy shipments on 16- or 20-foot pallets.
“We are very grateful for Air Lease’s confidence in our A330P2F solution, the most modern converted freighter in the market,” says Jordi Boto, CEO, EFW. “This milestone redelivery marks a significant step in supporting the operator Awesome Cargo in its mission to serve key routes across Mexico, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, some of the fastest-growing regions in e-commerce. We look forward to redelivering more Airbus P2F solutions, which combine sustainability with efficiency to meet the fleet needs of our lessor and operator customers.”
The re-delivered A330P2F is EFW’s number 60 Airbus widebody freighter of the new conversion programme provided to the market.
“Through this conversion programme, Awesome Cargo is committed and focused on offering unique and attractive alternatives to its clients: increasing the fleet with aircraft that are highly efficient in fuel consumption and cargo capacity compared to aircraft of the same class,” says Luis Ramos, CEO, Awesome Cargo. “We are adopting a strategic approach that balances fleet expansion with market demand and operational efficiency; working together with e-commerce platforms and logistics providers in order to align its services with customer needs, and raising all the reliability indices of its operation, making it efficient, competitive, and safe.”
Awesome Cargo operates flights from cities such as Anchorage, Los Angeles, and Mexico City to destinations in South Korea and China, including Seoul and Zhengzhou. The airline recently announced its first-ever regular cargo flight transporting perishables from Tijuana (TIJ) to Zhengzhou (CGO), starting Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
