Could 747s resurface in widebody conversion space led by 767s?

The perfect storm of scarce airfreight capacity along with an increasingly online retail environment has precipitated demand for freighter conversions across nearly all active types. [caption id="attachment_412454" align="alignright" width="550"] MRO facilities are buzzing with 767 conversion activity. (Photo/IAI)[/caption] While redeliveries of freighter-converted 767-300Fs will once again outnumber the conversion of any other widebody platform in 2021, recent aircraft movements involving 747-400 aircraft suggest that an older program thought to have been permanently sunsetted may soon be resurrected. Two 747-400s — a Combi previously operated by KLM (30454) and a 747-400ER (29406, ex-Virgin Atlantic) — recently arrived in Tel Aviv (TLV), reportedly for conversion. While freighter conversion is still a card in play for these airframes, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) told Cargo Facts that the two aircraft are currently at TLV for maintenance visits and will not be converted to full freighters, at least in the immediate short term. The Combi, which can be converted to full-cargo configuration in five months — compared to about six for a full-passenger aircraft — in a process that costs less, is more likely to return for conversion. The “customer has a plan to convert it to full-cargo configuration in the near future,” said Rafi Matalon, senior director, GM marketing of IAI. Regardless of the trajectory of 747 conversions, IAI’s TLV facility will be humming with conversions for at least the next three to five years. The successor to its 747-400BDSF program is also set to kick off this year, with the conformity aircraft for the 777-300ERSF conversion (32789, ex-Emirates) scheduled to be inducted in the coming months. For now, 767 conversions take center stage. As the year begins, here is an overview of all the 767-300ERs currently known to be undergoing or being staged for conversion, or expected to undergo conversion in the next two years, by Boeing or IAI at three MRO facilities across Singapore, Israel and Mexico. Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM), the leasing arm of Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), has six aircraft at TLV, most of which are likely to be operated for Amazon. One notable exception is unit 29431, which Northern Air Cargo recently confirmed to Cargo Facts will soon join its fleet. During ATSG’s third-quarter results, the company said CAM expects to deliver at least fifteen 767-300 conversions in 2021, including eleven to Amazon. Cargo Facts believes these could include at least four completed aircraft (25450, 29432, 29429 and 27448) and three yet to be acquired (29603, 29604 and 29605) not shown on our list. DHL Express, which ordered four 767 conversions with Boeing and three plus one option with IAI last year, took redelivery of the first IAI-converted unit (33087) in December and expects at least seven to be completed by the end of 2021. Cargo Facts believes units 33082, 33088 and 33089 could also end up being acquired by DHL, adding to the four on our list. Amazon acquired four ex-WestJet and seven ex-Delta 767-300ERs in 2020. The first aircraft (25274), which arrived in TLV in September 2020, appears to be nearing completion. The three other WestJet frames will be redelivered in 2021, while the seven Delta aircraft are expected in 2022, according to Amazon. SF Airlines also has two aircraft (26329, ex-LATAM, and 30342, ex-Pegas Fly) that arrived in Singapore in October and November 2020, respectively, for conversion by Boeing, but is likely to take more in 2021 and 2022. Cargojet recently announced it will add five 767Fs in 2021/2022, although details are unclear at this stage.

Could 747s resurface in widebody conversion space led by 767s?

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