Aerovista to foray into A321 conversions

U.A.E-based Aerovista will move into the A321 freighter market and has acquired two A321-200s that it intends to send for conversion next year.

The two aircraft are Aerovista’s first A321s. The lessor told Cargo Facts that it finalized its plans, timelines and capital requirements in the first two months of 2021, but had begun studying the feasibility of adding A321Fs to its portfolio in the first quarter of 2020 and started to seriously consider the opportunity toward the end of last year.

Aerovista declined to identify the specific aircraft for now, but said that the two frames were manufactured in 2001 and are equipped with CFM56-5B3 engines.

Aerovista told Cargo Facts that it is in active discussions with both 321 Precision Conversions and Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), and that it plans to induct the first aircraft for conversion with the former in the first quarter of 2022 and the second with the latter in the first quarter of 2023. The lessor said it will also consider C Cubed Aerospace as a backup alternative.

The two aircraft are undergoing maintenance and repaint. Aerovista hopes to have them available for passenger service from June 2021 while it awaits the conversion slots. The lessor also said it intends to acquire two more A321-200s in 2022 for conversion and will focus on A321 freighters as opposed to other models.

321 Precision Conversions obtained certification for its A321-200PCF conversion at the end of April, while EFW received the supplemental type certificate for its A321-200P2F in 2020. The status of C Cubed Aerospace’s A321 conversion program is currently unclear, although the company inducted its prototype A320-200 for conversion in late 2019.

Aerovista, which also has three A320-200s in operation with Bulgaria-based affiliate Fly2Sky in its portfolio, said it is in the process of identifying a launch customer for the A321F. The group also has a continuing airworthiness and engineering arm based in Bulgaria, called Avion Engineering.

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