Airbus’ new A330-200F freighter is making its Latin America debut at this week’s FIDAE air show in Santiago, Chile, where the cargo aircraft is attracting a steady flow of visitors that include airline executives from throughout the region.

The no. 1 A330-200F landed at Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport yesterday afternoon with approximately 20 metric tonnes of humanitarian aid for survivors of the 27 February Chilean earthquake. Included in the supplies were medicine, clothes, and other material for distribution to the country’s affected areas.

After its arrival, the A330-200F was moved to the FIDAE static display area, where it is being exhibited at the six-day biennial event.

This aircraft has logged approximately 200 airborne hours since its first flight in November 2009, and has been joined by a second A330-200F in a test and certification programme leading to the delivery startup of Airbus’ new-generation, mid-size freighter in the summer.

Cyrille Picard, Senior Market Analyst for Airbus’ A330/A340 jetliner family, said the A330-200F is well suited for Latin American operations, with the non-stop range capability to serve cities throughout the marketplace – along with other key destinations such as Miami – while carrying a full payload of 70 tonnes.

According to Airbus’ latest 20-year market forecast, Latin America is expected to experience good strong traffic growth in the next two decades – outpacing the global rate during this period. The needs for commercial cargo airlift in the region should create the demand for some 200 freighters, composed of both new-built and converted aircraft.

Airbus has seen its most successful period of commercial presence in Latin America during the past five years – with 300 aircraft sold, and a record backlog of over 200 aircraft to be delivered to customers in the region. Nearly 370 Airbus aircraft currently are flying with 22 Latin American airlines, representing approximately 42 percent of the total in-service fleet.