First A320 Passenger-to-freighter Conversion Receives STC

Elbe Flugzeugwerke an Airbus passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion specialist has received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for its Airbus A320 P2F conversion.

First A320 to receive P2F conversion

Elbe Flugzeugwerke is an experienced freighter conversion specialist also developing the A330-200P2F, A330-300P2F, and A321P2F conversions. The company is owned by ST Engineering and Airbus, they worked closely with Airbus to develop this conversion STC, the first two aircraft will go to Astral Aviation based in Nairobi, Kenya another five were ordered by Vaayu Group, an aviation services group of companies based in Washington state.

In a statement EFW chief executive Andreas Sperl said: “With this STC, we have added another first in the world to our family of Airbus P2F platforms, Airlines that employ different Airbus freighters to meet their various needs will get to enjoy improved operating economics due to the commonality across these platforms. Being a newer-generation freighter, it also offers greener fuel burn outcomes for its operators.”

The converted aircraft will accommodate 10 container positions in the main deck and seven in the lower deck. It has a max gross payload of 21 tonnes, range of 1,850 nm and a total usable containerized volume of 159m3 (5,603ft3). 

EFW and ST Engineering have announced plans to establish new conversion sites in China and the U.S. this year to meet the rising demand for freighter conversions, the company aims to convert 60 aircraft per year by 2024.

This new conversion will provide competition for The Boeing 737 P2F conversion freighter, the 737 currently doesn’t have much competition in this sector with the nearest competitor being the MD-80 P2F, which is less fuel efficient, is more expensive to operate and doesn’t accommodate standard A type cargo containers due to its narrow cross-section.