ASL Airlines Ireland (5H, Dublin International) has added its first A300-600F on lease from DHL Express as the logistics firm moves its entire A300 fleet from Air Hong Kong (LD, Hong Kong International) to European operators.
B-LDD (msn 858) was retired by the Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International) cargo subsidiary in early August and ferried from Hong Kong International via Dubai World Central to Budapest for maintenance on August 15, AirNav RadarBox ADS-B data shows. It has since been re-registered as EI-LDD but has yet to re-enter service on behalf of DHL Express in Europe.
The freighter joins four A300-600R(F)s that ASL Airlines Ireland already operates on behalf of DHL's German carrier EAT Leipzig, all of which are leased from DHL. ASL Aviation Holdings refused to comment on any future A300 plans while DHL did not respond to ch-aviation's request for more details.
DHL's senior vice president for global air fleet management, Malcolm Macbeth, said recently at an ISTAT transport air trading conference that the logistics firm was moving the A300s from Air Hong Kong due to the lack of technical support for the type in Asia, given the few remaining operators in the region.
Cathay Pacific has said that all nine A300s operated by Air Hong Kong in early 2023 would be moved to other carriers by the end of 2024. So far, except for the single unit moved to ASL Airlines Ireland, one A300-600R(F) was transferred to EAT Leipzig. The other seven -600Fs remain in Hong Kong for the time being, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
Air Hong Kong will be replacing the A300s with second-hand A330 converted freighters. It currently operates two A330-200Fs and six A330-300(P2F)s.
With a fleet of one A300-600F and twenty-two A300-600R(F)s, EAT Leipzig is the world's third-largest A300 operator, trailing rivals UPS Airlines and FedEx Express.
