In February 2020, Elbe Flugzeugwerke, a joint venture of Airbus and ST Engineering received a supplementary type certificate from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for Airbus A321 passenger-to-freighter conversion. The all-in price, including aircraft acquisition, is closer to $54.5 million. For instance, Boeing revealed it will in 2022 set up a P2F conversion facility for 737-800s in Costa Rica the first such operation in South America while Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will in 2024 establish a modification line in Seoul, South Korea for 777-200LRs and -300ERs. Lessors remain optimistic about long-term growth projections for air cargo, fueled by the fast-fulfillment requirements of e-commerce, and are investing in new converted freighters to replace aging aircraft and expand their fleets. But the pandemic has undoubtedly added more fuel to this fire. Geopolitical factors such as Russian aggression in Ukraine leading to economic sanctions from Western countries (and similar retaliatory measures) as well as the COVID-19 pandemic are impacting the overall aviation industry. Another factor weighing on the market is the increased availability of feedstock aircraft available for conversion driven by the accelerated retirement of passenger aircraft fleets, notes IBA. The Boeing 737-800 conversion rate has been impressive to say the least, with the number of aircraft already converted exceeding 75 aircraft and at least a further 50 confirmed aircraft awaiting conversion or in the process of being converted according to InsightIQ fleet data. How did Dominion legally obtain text messages from Fox News hosts? Aviation Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for aircraft pilots, mechanics, and enthusiasts. The Weight Variants (WV) have an impact on the performance of freighters as they do on the passenger aircraft, because they determine the payload-range characteristic of the converted freighters in general. Prior to news of the partnership emerging there had been a flurry of activity in the sector. Contacts. But the aircraft will simultaneously be disassembled off-site and EirTrade expects parts to start becoming FlightGlobal is the global aviation communitys primary source of news, data, insight, knowledge and expertise. The design will make use of the existing B777-300ER passenger airframe, which is now the most popular widebody aircraft variant in history. Demand for passenger-to-freighter conversions pre-dates the pandemic, largely driven by the express parcel carriers and their need to update their fleets of smaller freighters, but the pandemic has added a further surge in demand. G.B. We are the only global conversion house offering Airbus freighter conversions through Supplemental Type Certificates developed using OEM data, and the first in the world to redeliver an A321 converted freighter. Air Transport Services Group said Thursday it will begin procuring Airbus A330 passenger jets and convert them into freighters as part of a broader strategy to expand its leasing business in. Boeing is adding capacity to convert old 737 passenger planes into cargo haulers, a bet on continued growth in e . The solution was audited and approved by the French OSAC, the UAE GCAA and the Chinese CAAC with feedback highlighting the quality of the solution and of the instruction. The prototype A321P2F ("Passenger-to-Freighter" conversion) aircraft . Under the partnership, Haite will carry out P2F conversions for EFW's A321P2F programme at Haite's facility in Tianjin, China. googletag.pubads().collapseEmptyDivs(); P2F related spares supply and unplanned repairs will be handled by EFW. @FreeMan Yes, as D check. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. "We estimate that most slots are sold for 2021 and. Shell Aviation: What will it take to Decarbonise Aviation? By 2024, it will increase its current capacity to the point that it will be able to produce approximately 60 converted aircraft per year approximately 30 conversions each of the A330 and the new A321 narrow-body up from the 19 conversions it expects to carry out this year. Providing commentary for outlets including the BBC, CNBC, Reuters Thomson, and others, she works closely with IATA, AviaDev, and various airlines and suppliers to get the inside track on the global marketplace. Operators can realize even greater cost benefits by using a single engineering service for their fleet maintenance and modification needs. The number of distinct words in a sentence. And in recent days, one of its freighter conversions caught people's attention, because it involved a rather young jet. When the pandemic pulled the plug on global air travel in 2020, the aviation industry was left reeling. Airframe overhaul facilities are scrambling to keep up with the demand for converting used passenger jets into dedicated cargo jets. Last year, the company finished 19 conversions of the A320/321 and the larger A330 family. googletag.enableServices(); An extensive set of supplemental documentation is also part of each aircraft re-delivery. The number of passenger-to-freighter conversions has steadily increased at a 9% compound annual growth rate from 2010-21, driven by demand for standard-size freighters best suited for regional package networks. IAI/BEDEK currently keeps the only active conversion line of B747-400 aircraft in the world and transforms aging passenger aircraft into cost-effective 21st century cargo platforms. Indeed, in April this year rates on the Hong Kong-North America lane spiked to $8.48/kg, higher even than the $7.73/kg seen in May last year, driven upwards by reduced capacity due to stricter quarantine regulations in Hong Kong. For instance, the EFW A321 P2F conversion programme was launched in 2015, with a launch order secured two years later. Nevertheless, there can still be some unavoidable differences between candidate feedstock aircraft, for example if the new P2F fleet is being created from six A321s purchased from airline X and four A321s purchased from airline Y which will likely comprise aircraft originally from different production batches. The conversion design is based on the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) process, like it was for the previous generation A300/A310P2F and the current A330P2F. Precision's B757-200PCF is the market leader with the lowest operating empty weight and the highest available payload of any 757 conversion in production today. Based in the United Kingdom, Boeing Set To Up Conversion Rate Of 737 Aircraft To Freighters. googletag.cmd.push(function() { For a full cargo composition, 94 boxes can be installed on a A330-200 to attain a volume of up to 145m and a payload of nearly 19 tons cargo per flight. Each box is designed to latch into predefined positions in existing tracks meant for passenger seats safely and securely. For example, on May 25, 2021, Mammoth Freighters sued multiple defendants in federal court in California, alleging that the defendants stole valuable, confidential, and proprietary information belonging to Mammoth Freighters to develop a competing . Formed in 1958, Aeronautical Engineers Inc. (AEI) is the oldest conversion company in existence today. It also expects to establish production lines in China and the United States for the A330 reconfiguration in 2022. "Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has announced that they are to produce an A330-300BDSF product, with the launch customer being Avolon. Some advantages of our A320/A321P2F solution include: In contrast to other solutions providers who rely on reverse engineering, our Airbus P2F programmes are developed using OEM technical data to convert passenger aircraft into well-optimised and reliable freighter workhorse. lighter than the competition! Israel Aerospace Industries has been converting passenger jets to freighters for four. By Dominic Perry2021-05-12T14:51:00+01:00. 757 is likely to remain popular as ex-passenger jets become available. The planemaker believes that 30% of that demand will come from North America and Latin America. For the remaining proportion each individual aircraft (eg. Later in the year, CAM will begin the passenger-to-freighter conversions of our first A330-300 for lease delivery in 2024. Cargo conversion for their own cargo unit might speed up LH getting rid of their 747-8i fleet 10-15 years from now. EFW has been producing the A321 aftermarket freighter for 2 1/2 years. Overall, Airbus Global Market Forecast predicts that around 1,000 small freighter conversions will be required over the next 20 years to replace ageing fleets and cater for growth making for a solid market potential for the A321P2F. The A321 has more volumetric capacity with containers in the lower hold as the 757 and burns 12% less fuel, making it a better for operating costs. This a key milestone for "the Big Twin". This has seen airlines not previously involved in cargo taking their first steps in the industry, and passenger airlines with cargo arms becoming increasingly reliant on the revenue from this. Industry watchers also suggest the partners involved, together with the support of engine provider GE Aviation, lend credibility to the effort, despite the engineering challenges involved. Interest in our A321P2F conversion solution has been on a significant rise over the past year, says chief executive Andreas Sperl. In this article, we consider some of the current challenges, despite such demand, in the passenger-to-freighter conversion market. The Ancra-produced CLS chosen by EFW for the A321/A320P2F can support industry standard Unit Load Device (ULD) containers other than the 88inch x 125inch containers on option such as the 96inch x125inch containers. In recent EFW's first ever A321P2F conversion, that flew in 2020. Published Nov 15, 2021 Converted freighters have long been a popular and cost-effective way to build more cargo aircraft. Boeing is opening two new conversion lines for its 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) program. This generates significant time and effort saving for trainees, but also cost savings as there is no need to organise examinations at the end of a lockdown and travel restriction period. googletag.cmd.push(function() { Also, wouldn't the cost vary considerably depending on the plane being converted? 4.2 Limitations 4.2.1 Acceptable used market price. . Boeing sees the cargo market as a whole growing at an annual rate of 4% over the next 20 years, resulting in the need for a freighter fleet 60% larger than todays, rising from 2,010 to 3,260 units. CAM expects to convert and lease 30 such aircraft by 2028, two-thirds of . Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Conversions are being driven by the growth of e-commerce which has been boosted by more online deliveries during lockdowns, it notes.