Airbus Goes Ahead With Conversion Of A320 Into Freighter

The first A320 freighter is in the pipeline. At the end of March an A320 built in 1991 arrived at the facility of EFW, the freighter conversion arm of Airbus, in Dresden.

The aircraft is the first of a batch of 30 A320s to be converted for Dutch aircraft leasing firm AerCap. The planes are scheduled to be delivered to AerCap between 2012 and 2015. According to the leasing firm, the first A320F will be placed with West Atlantic, a regional freighter operator with a fleet of over 40 cargo aircraft. Two more A320s are due to be deployed with West Atlantic in 2013.

Airbus’s conversion programme for the A320 covers two types – the A320 and the larger A321. The former will produce a freighter with a payload of 23 tonnes or 167 cubic meters that can take 10 88 x 125 inch ULDs ( unit load device ) plus half a pallet on the main deck. The A321 will be able to carry two more tones, accommodating 13 88 x 125-inch ULDs and one half pallet on the main deck.

The A320F is the latest entrant into the narrow-body freighter segment, one of a number of planes vying to replace the ageing B727, which has dominated the segment so far. The 727 is approaching the end of its life span, and its exit from service may well be hastened by persistently high fuel prices.

Originally, Airbus had intended to kick off the A320 conversion programme two years earlier, but lack of feedstock has held back the launch, as passenger airlines have held on to their A320s longer than anticipated.

The manufacturer expects to convert about 400 of its single-aisle aircraft into all-cargo configuration between 2012 and 2026. initially, the conversion work will be carried out solely at the company’s facility in Dresden, but a second conversion line is planned near Moscow. Down the road Airbus intends to turn out 30 A320 freighters a year.

While Airbus was waiting for A320s to become available for conversion, the strongest candidate to replace the 727 has been the B737. there has been same activity converting 737-300s, but the effort has largely focused on the 737-400 type. The outlook for the former dimmed further a year ago, when conversion company Aeronautical Engineers Inc (AEI) unveiled a new configuration for converted 737-400s that can accommodate 10 AAA pallets.

Previously converted 737 freighters could take nine AAA pallets plus one longitudinally placed 88 x 105-inch pallet. Bob Convey, AEI vice-president of sales and marketing, does not anticipate much demand for a nine-pallet 737 freighter.

To most observers surpise, AEI opened a second front in the narrow-body freighter
segment last year when it announced a conversion programme for MD-80 freighter. The freighter will be smaller than its 737 and A320 rivals, with a payload of up to 21.3 tonnes and room for eight 88 x 125-inch pallets.

According to Convey, the smaller payload is amply compensated by the low price tag of the MD-80 freighter. MD-80s are available for US$1 million or even less, which puts the price for a converted freighter below the $3.5 million mark – less than one-third of the price of a converted 737-400F. He has misgivings over the A320, arguing that the residual value of the aircraft is too high. Tom Crabtree, regional director of cargo marketing at Boeing, does not share this assessment. “We do anticipate they will have some measure of success with the A320 freighter programme,” he said.

To a considerable extent, success will hinge on attracting integrated carriers and their contract operators. According to Boeing’s 20-year forecast, express carriers will take delivery of 865 freighters over the period, of which 45 percent will be single-aisle planes with a payload under 45 tonnes, which translates into about 400 small freighters.

About 170 narrow-body planes are expected to enter the global cargo fleet during the period in the service of general freight operators – mostly in the developing world, where surface transportation infrastructure is lacking. The remainder will go to other companies, mostly leasing firms. Overall, Boeing estimates that 1,180 narrow-body freighters are needed over the next two decades, chiefly to replace ageing types.

With the exception of an order for 10 Tupolev 204 production freighters, all of the 1,180 narrow-body freighters that Boeing predicts to enter service before 2030 will be conversions.

“Conversion prices and feedstock give interested parties lots of options, and the capital costs are more attractive than with production freighters,” Crabtree remarked.

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