Ukrainian carrier Windrose Airlines has expanded its presence in the air cargo market through a deal with lessor AELF Flight Service for auxiliary A330-200 freighter.
The aircraft (MSN 700) will be operated by Maleth Aero under a 14-month contract, which was negotiated by broker Air Charter Service.
The aircraft has had its seats removed to expand its cargo carrying capacity.
Flights were launched at the end of November, with the Ukrainian carrier offering routes that include Kiev to New York and Kiev to Hong Kong.
Under the contract, AELF FlightService will provide a sub-service on the converted passenger aircraft to Windrose Airlines, for routes on behalf of UkrPoshta, Ukraine’s national post.
Vladimir Kamenchuk, general director of Windrose Aviation Company, added: “We are very excited about the cargo flights service that we now introduce together with AELF FlightService, Maleth Aero, Air Charter Service and our local partner, UkrPoshta. Freight transportation is in high demand, especially in these difficult times, so we are glad to offer these services to our customers and look forward to developing this business in 2021”.
This is the first wet lease contract for AELF FlightService, which has been in the dry leasing business for several years.
This is the first of four A330-200 aircraft that the company plans to introduce into service by the end of the year (MSNs 871, 466 and 472 to follow).
Windrose Airlines is a Ukrainian charter airline headquartered in Kiev, which operates charter flights to destinations in Europe, Turkey, Israel and Egypt.