Poland-based SprintAir has added to its fleet its second ATR 72-500F — the sixtieth ATR aircraft converted under the Aeroconseil supplemental type certificate (STC) [FATs 005923-5925].
Aeroconseil, part of the AKKA group, told Cargo Facts that eight ATR aircraft were converted according to its STC in 2020 and that, depending on airline cash flow, it expects more than ten conversions this year.
SprintAir confirmed to Cargo Facts that it recently completed the conversion of the aircraft (717, ex-CanaryFly) at its own MRO facility in Warsaw (WAW), and that the freighter will begin revenue service around mid-February, after being painted into a new livery.
Aeroconseil, whose package-freighter conversion has now been applied to nineteen ATR 42s and forty-one ATR 72s, said its supply chain and engineering team are capable of supplying more than fifteen conversion kits per year.
While Aeroconseil is among several STC holders for package conversions, the only ATR conversion featuring a large cargo door is offered by IPR Conversions, now part of the ACIA Aero Capital group.
SprintAir, for its part, is set to expand further. The carrier told Cargo Facts that it will soon acquire another ATR 72-500; that aircraft (704, ex-Chalair Aviation) is owned by ATR’s own leasing, asset management and freighter arm, and is being prepared for delivery, after which SprintAir will convert it and put into service around the end of March.
Additionally, SprintAir is in the process of acquiring an ATR already in freighter configuration. The carrier had expected the aircraft sooner but the seller ran into difficulties preparing it for delivery; SprintAir now expects to accept the aircraft by the end of February.
With the three additions, SprintAir will grow its ATR freighter fleet to ten units, after acquiring its first ATR 72-500 last August. The carrier, which mostly flies on an ACMI basis for express integrators like UPS, said it expects to continue its development with the ATR 72F platform, unless current or future partners need “other options.”
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