Airbus has received the green signal from the board of directors of its parent company, EADS, for the launch of its wide-body A330-200 freighter aircraft for which it has already received 32 commitments from three customers. One of the customers is India's Flyington Freighters of Hyderabad that has ordered six aircraft with delivery due in the second half of 2009.

The other two are being Guggenheim Aviation Partners (six aircraft) and Intrepid Aviation Group (20), both of the US. The A 330-200 freighter is the only mid-size long-haul all-cargo aircraft capable of carrying 64 tonnes over 7,400 km or 69 tonnes up to 5,930 km depending on the payload mode configuration.