EFW offers “14 + 10” pallet positions on A321 P-to-F

SHANGHAI: At the Cargo Facts Asia event in Shanghai yesterday, Wolfgang Schmid, EFW’s VP Sales & Marketing, announced that the company’s A321 passenger-to-freighter conversion would offer fourteen full-size (AAY) main-deck pallet positions, plus ten LD3-45W positions in the lower hold.

This, EFW says, means that its A321P2F will offer the equivalent of seventeen full-size positions, two more than the fifteen positions available on the freighter-converted 757-200s with which the A321 is expected to compete.

Since re-launching its A320 and A321 conversion programs, EFW has touted the unique ability of both types to carry containerized or palletized cargo in the lower hold, but, until now, had been silent on the exact configuration. Achieving thirteen main-deck pallet positions in an A321 is not difficult, but going from thirteen to fourteen in an A321 was a significant engineering challenge — similar to the move from fourteen to fifteen positions in a 757-200.

Regarding the A320 conversion, Mr Schmid said EFW would offer it in “11 + 7” configuration, with eleven full-size main deck positions, and seven LD3-45W positions in the belly. The graphic below, from Mr Schmid’s presentation during “The Future of Freighter Conversions” session at Cargo Facts Asia summarizes the specifications for EFW’s A321 and A320 conversion programs.