Israel Aerospace Industries’ Aviation Group has flown the first converted Airbus A330-300 passenger-to-freighter aircraft, carrying out the maiden flight of its A330-300BDSF programme on 4 September. The test flight formed part of the certification campaign for the Bedek Special Freighter conversion, which is aimed at regional and medium-haul cargo work and is expected to carry up to 30 LD-3 containers and about 61 tonnes of payload.
The aircraft had already passed the main structural modification phase and extensive ground testing before it went airborne. The first flight took place at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and lasted about one hour and 15 minutes. IAI’s work on the A330-300 gives the company its first Airbus conversion programme, after a long track record in Boeing freighter conversions.
The flight is an early step toward certification, but no completed supplemental type certificate or entry into service has been confirmed. The programme expands IAI’s cargo-conversion portfolio at a time when demand remains steady for converted widebody freighters.