First U.S. conversion of an A321 to freighter commences

The first Airbus A321 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion in the United States began today with the entry into the hangar at ST Engineering’s airframe modification and maintenance facility in San Antonio, Texas. To be delivered to GTLK Europe, the first A321P2F “made in the U.S.A.” will be operated by SmartLynx. It is expected to enter service next summer.

The A321P2F has up to 14 container positions in its main cabin and up to 10 in its hold, making it the first model in its category to offer these capabilities. The payload is able to carry is more than 28 tons, which could be increased as the conversion process is refined.

See also: Second A321P2F delivered to Titan Airways

The developer of this conversion, Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), reported that it is experiencing “strong market demand on all recent conversion programs” of Airbus models. The company added that it is working to launch “several modification centers” around the world. In a press release, the company noted that “we are increasing our conversion capacity for the A321P2F and A330P2F. By 2024 we expect to be able to convert around 60 aircraft per year versus the approximately 20 we are currently performing”.

The San Antonio facility is EFW’s third conversion center. The other two are located in Singapore and Guangzhou, China. Five A321P2Fs have been delivered from the latter to date, and the world’s first A320P2F conversion is being performed there.