SINGAPORE and DRESDEN, Germany -- Against the backdrop of strong demand in the global air cargo market, ST Engineering and Airbus’ joint venture, Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), have announced an order for four Airbus A321 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversions from a new customer, GTLK Europe, a top-tier global leasing company based in Dublin, Ireland. Three of the four aircraft will be inducted for conversion this year, with the fourth conversion to be carried out in 2022.
"We are delighted to welcome GTLK Europe as the latest member of our growing customer base," said Andreas Sperl, CEO of EFW. "Interest in our A321P2F conversion solution has been on a significant rise over the past one year, and we are committed to satisfying this growing market demand with on-time redeliveries by ramping up conversion lines with our parent company, ST Engineering."
Roman Lyadov, CEO of GTLK Europe, said, "The next-generation Airbus A321P2F freighter aircraft, which delivers best-in-class capability and fuel efficiency in the single-aisle freighter segment, is an important complement to our portfolio as we support our customers to meet increasing demand in the express and e-commerce cargo market."
The A321P2F is the first in its size category to offer containerized loading in both the main (up to 14 full container positions) and lower deck (up to 10 container positions). With a generous gross payload capability of up to 28 metric tons (about 61,800 lbs) over 2,300 nautical miles, the A321P2F is the ideal narrowbody freighter aircraft for express domestic and regional operations.
EFW’s A321P2F conversion program is a collaboration between ST Engineering, Airbus and EFW, and is the only OEM solution for A321P2F in the market. To meet rising global demand for dedicated freighter aircraft, ST Engineering and EFW introduced a conversion site in China in late 2020 and will be setting up another in the U.S. in 2021. Expansion plans are also in the works to support rising demand for the widebody A330P2F program, which is currently carried out at EFW’s facility in Dresden, Germany.
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