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First Airbus A321 freighter enters service
October 30th 2020
The first Airbus A321P2F converted freighter began commercial operations this week with launch customer Qantas. Read More »
The freighter, registration VH-ULD, arrived in Australia on October 14 when it touched down in Perth from Singapore's Seletar Airport. The 22-year-old aircraft, which rolled off the Airbus production line in 1998 and has flown in the colours of British Midland, Onur Air and Zagrosjet, among others, entered service on Tuesday, ST Engineering said.
"The completion of our first A321P2F is timely, as the programme can help airlines breathe new life into underutilised aircraft that would otherwise suffer a harder landing in their residual value," ST Engineering aerospace sector president, Jeffrey Lam, said in a statement.
"With the A321P2F platform being the best-in-class for its size category – having 55% more volumetric capacity than its nearest competitor – we are confident the programme will be a great success in the freighter market.”
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified the A321 passenger-to-freighter conversion in February, granting the A321P2F its supplemental type certificate (STC) a month after its maiden flight on January 22.
Airbus launched the A321 and A320 passenger to freighter conversion program in 2015 in partnership with ST Aerospace and German-based Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW). ST Engineering has a 55% stake in EFW, with Airbus owning 45%.
Under the partnership, ST Aerospace is responsible for the engineering development phase, up to the STC approval by EASA and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Airbus provides the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) data and certification support with EFW leading the overall program alongside marketing and sales efforts.
The A321P2F can transport up to 27.9 metric tonnes of cargo in a two-deck layout of 14 containers on the main deck and up to 10 containers on the lower deck. The aircraft has a range of 2,300nm.
Qantas is operating the A321P2F, which was leased from Vallair, as part of its freighter network for Australia Post. In August 2019, the company announced it would introduce "up to three" A321P2F aircraft into the fleet”.
The narrow-body is powered by V2500 engines from International Aero Engines (IAE), a consortium of Pratt & Whitney, MTU and Japanese Aero Engine Corporation. IAE president, Bernie Zimmerman, described it as an "exciting milestone for the cargo industry".
ST Engineering and EFW are planning modification sites in China, Germany and the U.S. to increase global conversion capacity to about 25 slots a year to meet "rising demand for dedicated freighter aircraft".
Vallair forecast cargo operators would need about 1,500 narrow-body converted aircraft in the next decade, with an expected 1,000 aircraft to replace older generation airplanes and 500 to support increased demand. It said 400 of the conversions could be A321P2Fs.
