Rafi Matalon, vice president and general manager of marketing at IAI Aviation Group, will join Cargo Facts Asia 2026 for the panel discussion “Freighter conversions and MROs: Maximize resources and limit costs” on Wednesday, March 25, at 9:15 (UTC +8).

The 14th annual Cargo Facts Asia conference will take place March 23-25 at the W Shanghai, bringing together decision-makers, global executives and leaders to analyze the latest market trends, air cargo developments and their potential impact in Asia.

View the full event agenda.

Matalon became VP and GM of marketing for IAI Aviation Group in January 2019 and began working there in 1981.

Challenge Group subsidiary Challenge Airlines MT in March became the third operator to start flying the 777-300ERSF as IAI prepares to expand its conversion capacity to other third-party facilities.

IAI is also expanding its widebody conversions to include the Airbus segment after completing major structural modifications on its A330-300BDSF prototype.

Matalon will share insights on the latest MRO and freighter conversion developments with the following industry leaders:

• Unndor Jonsson, vice president of sales and marketing at Air Atlanta Icelandic;

• Jens Steinhagen, senior vice president of program management at Mammoth Freighters; and

• Marc Szepan, general manager at GAMECO..

The panelists will discuss:

• Conversion availability dynamics and fleet strategy;
• Best practices for maintaining quality control and minimizing turnaround times; and
• Strategies for an effective and efficient carrier MRO plan.

Cargo Facts will present four invaluable events for airfreight professionals in 2026, the next of which is Cargo Facts Asia on March 23-25. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com.