keynote feature
Martinair Cargo B747-400BCF – passenger-to-freighter conversion can enable ageing aircraft to take off into a new cost-effective period of usefulness
continued: “Whilst there are still a number of parked narrowbody and widebody freighters, some have already been brought out of storage, with others planned to follow as confidence grows that the market pick-up most operators have witnessed since last year will continue.”
GAINING MOMENTUM Gerry Aubrey, senior leasing officer of US-based aircraft lessor Intrepid Aviation, is also in a bullish mood, at least when considering demand for modified smaller freighters. “The narrowbody conversion market is definitely coming back, and we expect it to continue to gain momentum,” he revealed. “We see the narrowbody freighter continuing to
be almost exclusively conversions. Historically, new narrowbodies make sense only in limited applications, and we don’t see that changing.” However: “The widebody side is a different story. With the
A330, B777 and B747-8 production freighters all entering service, Intrepid believes the widebody conversion market has fundamentally changed. With three sizes of extremely efficient long-range production freighters to serve the capacity needs of intercontinental markets, conversions of older equipment look much less attractive. “For widebodies in the near term, the increasing demand for freighters should be filled by the re-activation of the better freighters that have been stored, the growing fleet of 777s, and the introduction of the A330 and 747-8,” he suggested. “For the low-utilisation operator, where low capital
cost is more important than low operating cost and high reliability, existing freighters will meet the need,” Aubrey believes. “As more and more of the new freighters come in to the
market, the better existing converted freighters will fill the low-utilisation role. We rarely see the economics justifying the investment of converting many additional aircraft. “Conversion feedstock can be had at attractive prices,
but the costs of conversion and maintenance often make for an airplane that is too expensive in a market that is still very price-sensitive,” he advised.
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