Confity Capital Partners, a Dubai-based private equity wealth management firm, plans to invest in at least 10 Airbus A330 converted freighter aircraft for use in the fast-growing India subcontinent airfreight market. Jet Freight Logistics, based in Mumbai, India, is the launch customer and will be the first Indian cargo airline to operate the A330 converted freighter platform.
The Mumbai-based freight management company will lease an undisclosed number of aircraft from Confity and outsource flight operations to a licensed commercial airline. No start date has been announced, but when the flights begin Jet Freight will be the first Indian company to operate the A330 converted freighter platform.
Elbe Flugzeugwerke, an Airbus joint venture with Singapore-based ST Engineering, announced Friday that it signed an agreement to convert several of the large Airbus medium-widebody jets from passenger to cargo configuration.
A news release did not indicate how many aircraft are involved in the order or how many Jet Freight Logistics will lease, but EFW spokeswoman Anke Lemke said Confity has reserved production slots for at least 10 aircraft. Conversion work on Confity-supplied aircraft will begin at the end of the year at EFW’s facility in Dresden, Germany, and other partner sites around the world.
The air cargo market in India has a need for widebody freighters because of rising e-commerce volumes, domestic consumption, exports and infrastructure projects. Growth is also made possible by increased high-value manufacturing, stronger trade ties with the United States and Europe, and improvements in airport infrastructure and cargo handling capacity.
Trade and Transport Group, a consulting and research firm, estimates air cargo tonnage in India will grow between 6.2% and 9.1% in the second half of the decade.
Lemke said Confity will modify both the A330-200 and A330-300 variants. The -200 has a gross payload of 60 tons with a range of 4,785 miles. The -300 can carry up to 62 tons with a volumetric capacity of more than 18,500 feet. Both planes have more capacity than the Boeing 767, the dominant platform for cargo conversions in the medium widebody segment.
Confity is an experienced investment fund manager that is entering the aerospace sector for the first time.