DHL Express has become the operator of modified A330-300 transfer freighters (P2F) from Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), a joint venture between ST Aerospace and Airbus. After successfully completing the test flight in October and obtaining the Supplementary Model Certificate (STC) from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in November, this delivery was carried out at EFW's cargo aircraft modification facility in Dresden. DHL Express has a total of 8 confirmed orders for A330-300P2F aircraft, and there are also 10 additional options available.

Geoff Kehr, Senior Vice President of Global Fleet Management at DHL Express, said, "DHL Express is pleased to have the first A330-300 P2F put into commercial operation within our international aviation network." The first aircraft is planned to strengthen our aviation network in the Asia Pacific region, bringing us greater capacity and higher efficiency in the market where express delivery volume continues to grow. "

The A330P2F conversion plan was launched in 2012 as a collaborative project between ST Aerospace, Airbus, and their joint venture EFW. ST Aerospace, as the project and technical leader in the engineering development phase, is responsible for applying for STC from EASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States. Airbus contributes to the program through OEM data and certification support, while EFW leads the industrialization phase and marketing of the cargo aircraft modification program.

There are two variants of the A330P2F plan - the A330-200P2F and the larger A330-300P2F. The latter is very suitable for serving the international express B2B and e-commerce freight markets, which typically have higher volumes and lower densities. This aircraft can carry up to 62 tons of cargo within a range of 3650 nautical miles, and compared to other available types of cargo aircraft with similar ranges, it increases cargo volume by 20% and has lower costs per ton.