Aerotransportes Mas de Carga (Mas Air) has taken delivery of an A330-200 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) aircraft, on lease from Altavair.

The Mexico City-headquartered airline is the first carrier from North and South America to fly the aircraft type, which has been converted by Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) – a joint venture between Airbus and ST Engineering.

The freighter can carry up to 61 metric tons and a has range of up to 4,200 nautical miles.

Airbus’ Latin America and the Caribbean president Arturo Barreira said: “The A330-200P2F will provide Mas Air with a highly-efficient operation thanks to its greater payload and range capability.

“It’s optimised fuselage cross-section offers flexibility to carry a wide variety of pallet and container sizes. Airbus is confident that the A330-200P2F will successfully support Mas Air’s expansion plans.”

Mas Air has been operating cargo aircraft since 1992. In December 2018, it launched an expansion plan with Discovery Americas, a Mexican private equity fund, and now has the capacity to expand internationally with additional cargo aircraft.

Mas Air’s CEO Luis Sierra said: “Mas Air will take advantage of the increased payload and range of the A330 to expand our global presence, increasing flights to Europe and South America and starting to fly into China. The A330P2F’s reliability and reduced environmental impact makes it the ideal aircraft for Mas Air to succeed in the global market.”