Whilst the demand for air freight has changed, the demand is still there – with AerCap seeking more aircraft. Therefore it has signed with Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) for up to 30 Airbus A321 Passenger-to-Freighter (A321P2F) conversions.
AerCap A321P2F – Image, AerCap via Twitter.
The order is split, with a firm order for 15 Airbus A321-200 Passenger to Freighter (P2F) aircraft conversions and an option for a further 15 A321P2F conversions.
The aircraft that are to be converted are from AerCap’s A321 passenger portfolio and are expected to begin delivery in 2023 through 2025.
Customers for these conversions have not been announced at this time
A lot goes into the conversions
It isn’t just a case of ripping out the passenger seating and putting in a big door on the side of an aircraft to convert it from a passenger aircraft to a freighter. EFW shows the work that goes on in this infographic.
The work that goes on – Image, Elbe Flugzeug Werke.
In Quotes
Rich Greener, Head of AerCap Cargo said
“Extending the life of our A321 fleet will complement the Cargo portfolio and meet the strong demand from our diverse customer base, from which we’ve seen a significant appetite for this freighter,”
“The A321 freighter is the best-in-class and most fuel-efficient aircraft to replace the B757-200 freighter. This transaction is in line with our cargo portfolio strategy of diversifying our fleet with improved economics and returns. We look forward to working with the EFW team on this program and thank them for the trust they have placed in AerCap.”
Jordi Boto, CEO of EFW said
“We are glad to finalize the agreement with AerCap on the A321P2F conversions,” says
“Our young A320P2F family program has gone from strength to strength and gained traction very quickly in the market with a dozen aircraft already in operation.”
The continued need for cargo
Titan Airways Airbus A321P2F
If the past few years have proved anything, having a flexible fleet of cargo aircraft is useful for any carrier or airline needing to fast-ship items across the world.
The A320P2F programme competes with the Boeing 737-800P2F programmes too – with both types of aircraft becoming a lot more available through the markets as airlines switch to the more fuel-efficient models.
Rather than converting these aircraft to bare components, freighter conversions give these aircraft new lives, transiting the cargo around the world at a lower cost than a brand new freighter (bearing in mind fresh-off-the-line freighters tend to be of the wide-body families, rather than narrowbody aircraft.
And there are a lot of missions that do not need that the capacity that these wide-body aircraft have – this is where a narrowbody freighter is needed (eg within a continent or as a specialist freighter for a customer.
With older aircraft being less efficient as time goes on, along with the cockpit familiarity that the A320 family brings, some airlines could well be very tempted to operate the type in the future as part of their fleet portfolios and operations.
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