Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co., Ltd. (GAMECO) and Boeing today announced plans to establish a third conversion site for the 737-800BCF at GAMECO’s Guangzhou Baiyun Airport (CAN) facility. The first aircraft is expected to be inducted for conversion in 2020.
Additional conversion lines had been expected following a flurry of 737-800BCF orders at this year’s Paris Air Show, and a recent order for ten conversions from an unidentified customer that was announced during Cargo Facts Symposium 2019. Including the recent order from an unidentified customer, Alvey Pratt, director, Boeing Converted Freighters and Complex Modifications, Boeing Global Services, said the company has logged orders and options totaling 130 737-800BCF conversions. Redeliveries total twenty freighter-converted 737-800s and this year, Boeing says it is on track to redeliver a total of 17 narrowbody conversions, prompting the need for additional conversion capacity.
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Boeing hinted at the possibility of additional conversion lines during the Paris Air Show but until today had not announced concrete plans to add lines for NG conversions. Boeing and GAMECO have, however, been discussing the possibility of cooperating for more than a year. In the past, GAMECO has performed touch labor for 737 Classic conversions, first for Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and more recently, for PEMCO.
At present, two MROs host a total of five conversion lines for Boeing’s 737-800BCF program, including Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services (BSAS) and Taikoo (Shandong) Aircraft Engineering Company (STAECO).
