IAI partners with Avolon for A330-300BDSF launch

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has secured Avolon as the partner and launch customer of its A330-300BDSF conversion program — the first ever IAI freighter conversion for an Airbus aircraft. The lessor, which is making a “strategic entry” into the freighter conversion market for the first time, has signed for thirty conversion slots and told Cargo Facts that it is confident in the long-term prospects of converted A330-300 freighters. [caption id="attachment_415916" align="alignright" width="560"] IAI expects to obtain STC approval for the A330-300BDSF by the end of 2024. (Photo/SmartLynx Airlines)[/caption] Head of Portfolio Management Jim Morrison said that feedback from the market on the medium widebody segment has given Avolon confidence that the timeline for the A330-300BDSF program and Avolon’s 2025-2028 slots coincide with a transition from 767 conversions to A330s. Another factor is the fact that the production 767-300F will no longer be able to be built in its current form from 2028 due to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s new CO2 emissions standards, Morrison said. IAI told Cargo Facts it kicked off the design and engineering for the A330-300BDSF program around two months ago even though it made the decision to launch the project at least one or two years ago . IAI is currently targeting a supplemental type certificate for the A330-300BDSF by the end of 2024. Like IAI’s historical and in-development conversion programs, its own Tel Aviv (TLV) facility will handle touch labor for the conformity A330-300. All subsequent A330s will be converted at remote sites, according to IAI, which did not identify any specific MRO facilities. IAI told Cargo Facts that the location of the cargo door on its A330-300BDSF will be “in a place that will allow standard loading and unloading of cargo without balancing, and prevent aircraft tipping,” although the company did not immediately confirm that this refers to a rear cargo door like on the upcoming 777-300ERSF. By contrast, Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) has a front cargo door for its A330P2F program, with a powered Ancra cargo loading system preventing the freighters from becoming too tail-heavy during loading. Avolon, which will play a key role in the certification process as launch customer, is the largest manager of A330s and the No. 2 lessor in terms of fleet size after the AerCap and GECAS merger, with a total of 831 owned and managed aircraft. At the end of September 2021, Avolon’s A330 portfolio numbered fifty-four, of which thirty are -300s, Avolon confirmed to Cargo Facts . The lessor has not yet decided how many of the thirty it will use to fill its conversion slots. Avolon’s A330 holdings are diverse and include all three engine types available for the aircraft: Rolls-Royce Trent 700s, Pratt & Whitney PW4000s and General Electric CF6s. In terms of age, the airframes run the gamut from recent deliveries to aircraft over fifteen years old, with the average age at around eight, Morrison said. In quarter three, Avolon also restructured and refinanced its debt and access to capital by growing its unsecured revolving facility by one-third to $4.3 billion, and delayed maturity from 2024 to 2026, according to an update from the company. Avolon also reduced the weighted average interest rate on $2 billion worth of unsecured notes from 5.31% to 2.53%, and pushed maturities to 2027. Lessors and managers have not been active in A330 conversions until recently, with Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM) grabbing twenty slots with EFW from mid-2023 through 2025, CDB Aviation in the process of converting two A330-300s destined for MasAir, and Altavair converting two A330-200s, also for MasAir . EFW only recently redelivered the first lessor-owned A330-300P2F to Stratos, which is managing the aircraft for JP Lease. That freighter entered service in September with Titan Airways, flying it on a CMI basis for Geodis. While 767-300ERs will continue to enter conversion in the next few years at least, taking the total number of freighter-converted 767-200s and -300s well past 200 units, EFW is already sold out of A330 conversion slots until around 2024 or 2025. The company will begin conversions at the Shanghai Technologies Aerospace Company Limited (STARCO) facility and an ST Engineering facility in the U.S. next year, and plans to be able to redeliver up to twenty-five A330P2Fs per year by 2023 . Unlike EFW, IAI does not currently plan to convert A330-200s, the company said. Cargo Facts Symposium, taking place LIVE Oct. 25-27 at the Wynn Las Vegas, is the essential event for stakeholders in the air cargo industry. Learn more and register at www.cargofactssymposium.com .

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