mas (MasAir)

The name MasAir appears in many spotters’ logbooks next to a Boeing 767 in LAN or LATAM colors. Anyone looking for this airline today runs into something quite different: a small, independent cargo airline called mas that no longer flies the 767 but converted Airbus A330s. This page sorts out the history, explains the codes and shows you how to recognize a mas freighter in the sky or on the apron.

mas at a glance

mas is a Mexican cargo airline based in Mexico City. The official name is Aerotransportes Mas de Carga, but the company became known as MasAir or Mas Air Cargo. It was founded in 1992 with the aim of carrying freight between Mexico, the US and South America. No passengers fly with mas – every aircraft in the fleet is a pure freighter.

Today mas combines two lines of business. On one hand, there is its own scheduled network with connections between Mexico, the US and Central and South America. On the other hand, the airline leases out aircraft complete with crew, maintenance and insurance to other carriers – the so-called ACMI business. This very mix makes mas interesting for spotters: part of the flying is predictable, while another part pops up at short notice wherever capacity is needed.

Unlike Aeroméxico, mas is part of neither an alliance nor a large airline group. The majority owner is the Mexican holding company Discovery Americas. Since February 2025, Robert van de Weg has led the airline as CEO; his predecessor Andrés Fabre moved to the top of the board of directors.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code M7: appears in the cargo flight number, for example in booking systems and schedules.
• ICAO code MAA: appears in the flight plan filed with air traffic control and therefore also on most flight trackers.
• Callsign MAS CARGA: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

The codes have survived all the renamings. Whether a photo from the 2000s shows “MasAir,” one from 2017 “LATAM Cargo México” or a current “mas,” it is always the same company with M7 and MAA. For your logbook, that means: log the airline by its code, not by the title on the fuselage, and all your sightings end up neatly under one entry.

From MasAir to mas: the history

The airline’s history can be split into three phases – and each has left its own look and fleet behind.

The LATAM years are the reason MasAir is still often associated with the LATAM Airlines Group. Back then, the airline was closely integrated into the cargo network of LATAM Cargo, which flew Boeing 767-300Fs and Boeing 777Fs between South America, the US and Europe. MasAir itself flew Boeing 767-300Fs in this phase, whereas a 777F cannot be verified in the fleet lists of the Mexican company. If you find a 777F listed under MasAir in old photo archives, it is therefore worth a second look at the ICAO code and registration.

The fleet: from the 767F to the A330P2F

Since 2022, mas has switched its fleet completely. According to the available fleet lists, it looked like this in 2026:

Type	Number	Origin	Spotter note
Airbus A330-200P2F	2	leased, converted at EFW in Dresden	the first A330-200P2F in the Americas went to mas in 2022
Airbus A330-300P2F	3	leased, including two aircraft from Titan Aviation Leasing in 2025	longer fuselage, used on longer routes

The suffix P2F stands for “Passenger to Freighter”: these are former passenger aircraft that received a large main-deck cargo door, a reinforced floor and a cargo loading system during conversion. The conversions for mas come from Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), a joint venture of Airbus and ST Engineering. According to industry reports on the lease agreements, an A330P2F carries up to roughly 61 tonnes of cargo. You can find more about the technology and the variants on the page about the A330-200P2F and A330-300P2F.

The lessors give a good insight into the business. The first A330-200P2Fs came from Altavair in 2022, an A330-300P2F from CDB Aviation in April of the same year. According to the converter EFW, mas was thus the world’s first operator of both conversion versions. In September 2025, mas reported two more A330-300P2Fs from Titan Aviation Leasing, a joint venture of the Atlas Air parent company and the investment firm Bain Capital. That provides a bridge to Atlas Air, which is one of mas’s interline partners.

Ambitious plans, small fleet

In 2022, mas announced it wanted to grow to 18 freighters, including eight converted A330-200s. That goal has still not been reached: with five aircraft, mas has remained a small cargo airline. One reason is the market – convertible widebody passenger aircraft are scarce and expensive, and many cargo airlines compete for the same airframes. For spotters, the small fleet means one thing above all: every single aircraft is a manageable but rewarding collecting task.

The retired 767s

The Boeing 767 shaped MasAir for about two decades. The Boeing 767-300F arrived in the LAN era in the early 2000s, and from 2020 converted 767-200s and 767-300s supplemented the fleet. Around 2023, that was over. If you still have photos of a 767 with MasAir or LATAM Cargo México titles, they are now historic shots – and a nice addition to your hangar.

How to recognize a mas freighter

Because the fleet consists of only one type, type identification is easy. The more interesting question is whether you are looking at a converted A330 or a factory-built freighter – and whether it is mas at all.

The bulge is the most important detail. On the A330-200F, which Airbus built directly as a freighter, the nose gear sits deeper in a fairing so that the fuselage sits level on the ground. Converted A330P2Fs keep the original landing gear and don’t have this bulge. The difference between the A330 and the very similar A340 is explained in the article How to tell an A330 from an A340, and general freighter features are covered in the guide Spotting cargo aircraft.

Registrations: EI- and 9H- instead of XA-

One quirk of mas is its registrations. The first A330-200P2F, for example, flew with the Irish registration EI-MYY, and other A330s also carry Irish EI- registrations according to fleet lists. Freighters that fly through the Maltese stake are registered in Malta and then carry a 9H- registration. Mexican XA- registrations, like those you see on Aeroméxico, are not found in the current fleet.

There are two reasons behind this. First, the aircraft are leased, and many leasing companies prefer to register their aircraft in Ireland. Why that is so is explained in the article on offshore registrations and leasing. Second, since December 2022 mas has held 49 percent of the Maltese cargo airline Galistair Malta, which operates at least one of the A330-300P2Fs. On the tracker, this freighter may then not show up under MAA.

Network and hub

mas’s hub is at Felipe Ángeles Airport (NLU), about 40 kilometers north of downtown Mexico City. Since 2023, the new airport has taken over most of the all-cargo flights that were previously handled at the old Mexico City Benito Juárez Airport. mas also moved its operations there in August 2023 – earlier MasAir photos, by contrast, still show the freighters at the old capital airport.

The scheduled connections published by mas most recently included routes between Felipe Ángeles and Guadalajara, Bogotá and São Paulo-Viracopos, as well as weekly flights to San José, Costa Rica since 2025. An important base in the US is Los Angeles, with connections to Bogotá, Guadalajara and Mexico City, among others. The network is complemented by partnerships: in December 2025, mas agreed with Nippon Cargo Airlines to share cargo space – mas thus gains access to the NCA flights between Los Angeles and Tokyo Narita.

Routes and frequencies change quickly at cargo airlines. So before a targeted trip, check the current schedule or the tracker instead of relying on older reports.

Spotting mas: where and how

In Europe, mas is a real rarity. The scheduled flights stay in the Americas, and operations across the Atlantic mostly run through charters, ACMI contracts or the Maltese stake; in overviews, Zaragoza in Spain also shows up as a European base in this context. Your best chances are therefore at airports in the Americas.

In Los Angeles, the plane spotting guide for Los Angeles is worth a look. The airport is a cargo magnet, and among the big names an A330 with a small “mas” title easily slips through. If you are interested in the Mexican cargo market, AeroUnion is a second domestic cargo operator. An interesting comparison from the region is Avianca Cargo, which also operates A330 freighters – mainly the factory-built version there.

Common mix-ups

• Treating MasAir as a LATAM subsidiary – the connection ended in December 2018; today mas is independent.
• Looking for mas with a 777F or 767F – the 767s have been gone since 2023, and MasAir never had a 777F according to the available fleet lists.
• Equating mas with LATAM Cargo – LATAM Cargo is the cargo arm of the LATAM group, with its own codes and its own fleet.
• Logging an A330P2F as an A330-200F – if the bulge under the nose is missing, it is a converted freighter.
• Assuming every EI- freighter is from Ireland – the registration shows the country of registry, not the airline’s home.
• Searching at the old capital airport – the hub is now at Felipe Ángeles.

Conclusion

In a good three decades, MasAir has had three lives: as an independent operator of four-engine jets, as the Mexican building block of the LAN and LATAM cargo network with Boeing 767s, and since 2022 as the independent mas with converted A330s. For spotters, the airline is small but appealing – few aircraft, unusual registrations and a hub at one of Latin America’s youngest major airports.