Châteauroux, France-based Vallair has received a 23-year-old Airbus A330 aircraft for teardown.
The age of the aircraft, previously operated by Hong Kong Airlines, is indicative of the strong demand for A330s as international traffic recovers and airlines seek to mitigate delivery delays of new widebodies.
“Ideal widebody freighter conversion candidates such as the A330-300 and 777-300ER are surging in passenger demand driven by delays to new aircraft deliveries,” stated consultancy IBA in a recent update.
Reports emerged last week that Dubai-based airline Emirates would have to push back the launch of its A350 services due to delays of deliveries of its first aircraft.
Boeing widebody deliveries are also suffering, with Lufthansa stating on its most recent earnings call that it would likely receive half the number of Boeing 787s it had originally expected this year.
Aviation Week Intelligence Network Commercial Aviation 2024 Fleet & MRO Forecast show that approximately 718 A330-200/300 types in services across passenger and freighter fleets, with about 200 of those over 19 years of age. It also predicts that about 100 A330s will return from storage over the next two years, while retirements will peak towards the later part of this decade.
Vallair is performing the conversion of the HK Airlines A330 on behalf of Corax, a Danish spare parts provider.
Disassembly of this 23-year-old aircraft is 80% complete and when finished, more than 1,500 parts will have been removed as used serviceable material.
“Realising the value of mature assets relies on fast and efficient disassembly practices that protect each part throughout the inspection and evaluation process,” commented Morten Espenhein, president of Corax.
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