LONDON – Turkish cargo carrier MNG Airlines has welcomed its 2nd Airbus A330-300P2F aircraft from EFW and is the 20th conversion under the belt of the conglomerate.

TC-MCN is the aircraft in question, a 14.8-year-old aircraft that started out its life with China Southern Airlines in December 2007.

The aircraft was in the hands of the Chinese carrier until April 2021, when it was returned to lessor BOC Aviation and was retired and stored in Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport.

Then, in June 2021, the aircraft was ferried to Istanbul Ataturk to enter service with MNG Airlines. The aircraft was then shipped over to Bournemouth before heading to Dresden for P2F conversion in February 2022.

MNG’s General Manager Ali Sedat Özkazanç stated:

“I am confident that the collaboration between MNG Airlines and EFW will continue to add value to both companies.”

“We are currently developing transformation plans for 2024 and beyond. These include expanding our flight network and increasing cargo capacity with two additional A330-300P2Fs, for which we have already secured slots with EFW.”

“Market demand and trends for a short distance, as well as the opportunity for the highest fuel efficiency and lower cost per ton, have led us to the decision to complement our fleet with A321P2F in 2023 and 2024.”

The P2F Market Continues To Hotten Up…

As mentioned in The Editor’s Corner #7, it’s clear that the P2F market has intensified in 2022. Looking back at past articles that AviationSource has produced, it’s evident what the strength is:

• EFW Delivers Third Airbus A321P2F To BBAM, D-AEUC First for Lufthansa Cargo
• ST Engineering Wins First Lease Deal for The A320P2F
• CDB Aviation Signs Deal with EFW For 12 Airbus A330-300P2Fs
• EFW Secures Airbus A321P2F Orders from SmartLynx Airlines
• Qantas To Update A321P2F With LCD Cockpit, Announces Two A330P2F Conversions
• Mas de Carga Becomes Americas Launch Customer of Airbus A330-200P2F
• Lufthansa Cargo Outlines Airbus A321P2F Network Launch Plans
• ATSG & EFW Sign MoU For 29 Airbus A330P2F Aircraft
• CDB Aviation Receives First Airbus A330-300P2F Aircraft

More than nine stories have been produced since the start of the year, which definitely highlights how busy manufacturers of the P2F have been.

EFW, which is a joint venture between Airbus & ST Engineering, is slowly but surely disrupting the cargo market in this regard and will be well complemented with the upcoming A350 Freighter as well.

This doesn’t come as a surprise given the high level of competition that has been instigated against Boeing through the 737-800BCF and 767 Freighters, respectively.

Overall…

It remains clear that the P2F market is hotting up, and carriers like MNG Airlines are correct in capitalizing on this, especially if it means better cost efficiencies, which therefore generates more revenue options.

Looking ahead, it’s going to be interesting to see how much further EFW can take the P2F market, especially with their actions definitely putting pressure on Boeing.

Even so, it shows that even in the post-COVID world, the demand for cargo will continue to grow as the e-commerce market continues to grow at record levels year on year.