ST Engineering, Airbus and their joint venture, Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) achieved a key milestone in their joint A321 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion programme in September this year with the re-delivery of the ‘head of version’ to launch customer, Vallair. The A321 converted freighter, operated by Qantas for Australia Post, entered into service on 27 October 2020.
Both milestones marked the completion and birth of the world’s first A321 converted freighter. EFW had received the original Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the A321P2F from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in February this year, and the Validation STC from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in July. Operator specific enhancements were subsequently incorporated into the freighter and certified prior to its re-delivery.
Jeffrey Lam, President of ST Engineering’s Aerospace sector, said, “Through our collaboration with the aircraft OEM, Airbus, we have been able to develop a high performance product and obtain the original STC from EASA within a week from completing the flight tests, all within schedule and while maintaining our high standards in safety and quality. The completion of our first A321P2F is timely, as the programme can help airlines breathe new life into underutilised aircraft, which would otherwise suffer a harder landing in their residual value. With the A321P2F platform being the best-in-class for its size category – having 55 percent more volumetric capacity than its nearest competitor – we are confident that the programme will be a great success in the freighter market.”
Andreas Hermann, Vice President of Asset Management at Airbus and member of the EFW shareholder committee said: “We are very pleased to see the A321P2F programme entering service. The Airbus A321 is the platform which, by design, will offer the best economics, cargo capacity and performance in the single-aisle freighter segment going forward. For any asset owner, this will provide an excellent opportunity to leverage future growth and replacement waves, underpinning the already great value proposition of the A321 today."
“We are excited to welcome this newest member A321P2F, which is the result of a successful collaboration with ST Engineering and Airbus, into our suite of Airbus freighter conversions,” said Andreas Sperl, Chief Executive Officer of EFW. “Given the outstanding performance of this freighter, we are confident that the A321P2F will be a game changer in the freighter market.”
“The A321 is the future of freighter conversions,” says Gregoire Lebigot, CEO - Vallair. “Not only is this freighter variant better for the environment due to its 20% reduction in fuel burn, but it offers enhanced performance across range, payload and volume with a unique capacity for fourteen container positions in the upper deck and ten more on the containerised lower cargo deck. Thanks to its fly by wire technology, the A321 is more advanced and the aircraft is still in production.”