Freighter Conversions Demand Coming from Asian Market
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FREIGHTERS Freighter conversions demand coming from Asian market sia continues to be most in-demand market for stands Chisholm’s needs, making PEMCO World Air Services’ (PEMCO) various con- the partnership a great fit. version programmes. “We cannot disclose the exact In April, PEMCO launched its passenger-to-Flex- number of orders at this time,” he Combi and passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversions explains. Afor the Boeing Next Generation (NG) B737-700 aircraft, which He feels the B737NG conver- has been well received in the marketplace. sions will prove popular especially These add to the full-freighter and quick change programmes for in China and Europe and feels it the B737-300, a nine position full- will be used to replace existing freighter, 11 position full-freighter classic fleets. and combi programmes for the “In addition, China is a major B737-400 it already runs. market for express delivery with Director of conversion programs, a boom in e-commerce and an Mike Andrews (pictured) says increased spending ability of its while he cannot disclose the exact middle-class,” Andrews says. number of orders - it has a backlog. Among other recent deals were in April, when it signed an for China-based Okay Airways. He also explains: “Our market size agreement with South Korea-based Air Incheon to provide a In February, PEMCO also penned an agreement with rising in China is also worth mentioning, Boeing 737-400 P2F, and that it will be converting two B737- Chinese carrier YTO Cargo Airlines for three B737-300 P2F seeing that PEMCO has converted 400s for parent company Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) conversions. roughly 70 per cent of all B737- 300/400 flying in China right now. Looking into the future, we’re excited for our B737NG programs, and working to make the FlexCombi a reality.” The launch customer for the B737-700FC is Bahrain-based Chisholm Enterprises, and its subsidiary Texel Air, a non-sched- uled cargo airline, will operate the B737-700FC from Bahrain International Airport. Andrews says the FlexCombi concept would not exist without Chisholm. “The company vetted a number of conversion houses, and after an extensive evaluation process, chose PEMCO to bring the FlexCombi to life. Texel Air’s customers require unique ser- vices and flexibility. “Having worked together in the past on four B737 conversions, including two aircraft currently in its fleet, PEMCO fully under- Freighters still in demand MORE and more freight is being moved in the bellies of passenger aircraft but there will be continued demand for freighters, according to Boeing and Airbus. Boeing predicts in its Current Market Outlook (CMO) that 920 new production widebody freighters will be needed, worth $260 billion. This demand will mainly come from Asia Pacific, which will need 320 aircraft worth $110 billion and North America, which will require 390 aircaft worth $90 billion. Boeing says in total 41,030 new aircraft over the next 20 years will be needed valued at $6.1 trillion, with single aisle units making up 29,530 deliveries worth $3,180 billion. The US aircraft manufacturer says the widebody market is expected to need 9,130 aircraft with a large wave of poten- tial replacement demand beginning in the early next decade. Meanwhile rival commercial manufacturer Airbus predicts a little less in its forecast, and says in its Global Market Fore- cast 2017-2036 that 730 freighter aircraft will be needed in the next 20 years. The aircraft manufacturer also predicts on top of the freighters that 34,170 passenger aircraft will be required over the next two decades. All these aircraft sales Airbus says will come to a combined total of $5.3 trillion and it would double the commercial air- craft fleet. Airbus says over the next 20 years Asia Pacific is set to take 41 per cent of new deliveries, followed by Europe with 20 per cent and North America at 16 per cent. In the twin aisle segment, Airbus forecasts a need for 10,100 aircraft and in the single aisle segment, it pre- dicts a requirement for 24,810 aircraft. aircargoweek.com ACW 10 JULY 2017 9.