DHL to have youngest 767 and A330 conversions

DHL Express has purchased a pair of sub-ten-year-old 767-300ERs — the youngest 767s ever that will head for conversion to freighters. DHL, which has already converted a 2013-build A330-300 (1477, ex-Hi Fly) and is about to deploy it with EAT Leipzig, acquired the two 2012-vintage units (40592 and 41746, ex-LATAM) from Jetran on Oct. 4 and Sept. 22, respectively, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s registry. [caption id="attachment_416739" align="alignright" width="560"] DHL has now bought two of nine ex-LATAM Brasil 767-300ERs. (Photo/LATAM Brasil)[/caption] DHL’s SVP of Global Air Fleet Management Geoff Kehr said at Cargo Facts EMEA in June 2021 that the integrator was “in the market scouting suitable [767] aircraft” and will continue to add the type to its conversion pipeline. “The 767-300ER is a great freighter, a mid-size aircraft that can do regional routings, but obviously has the reach to do those longer-haul segments as well,” Kehr said. “The challenge for everybody is the 767-300 is becoming increasingly scarce in terms of the feedstock available in the market.” The younger aircraft reflect the wider availability of feedstock airframes at prices that are more attractive compared to the pre-pandemic period . While the medium widebodies are exceptionally young to be considered candidates for freighter conversion by historical precedent, more than a dozen 737-800s under fifteen years old — including some closer to the ten-year-old mark — have been converted within the past eighteen months. Operators that had run the numbers prior to the pandemic and were able to justify mid-life feedstock units can in some cases justify younger units in today’s market. Of course, the evaluation is different if an operator already owns the aircraft in question. LATAM itself recently inducted one of its own 2008-vintage 767-300ERs (35697) for conversion with Boeing, the first of ten 767-300BCFs that the carrier will add over the next few years. Units 40592 and 41746, both with General Electric CF6-80C2 engines, are the first two of nine units that LATAM sought to sell to Jetran as part of its bankruptcy restructuring, according to a June 2021 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The aircraft were all previously in service with the group’s Brazilian division, which intends to keep four 767-300ERs. It is currently unclear whether DHL will convert the new purchases with Boeing or Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), or whether it will acquire more of the ex-LATAM 767s. DHL declined to comment on its future aircraft acquisitions. The company, which will be the only to have such young medium widebodies of both types in service, now has eight A330-300P2Fs and has already acquired its next conversion candidate: another 2013-vintage A330-300 (1401, ex-Hi Fly) with Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. That aircraft is currently in Dresden and will begin conversion around November, DHL recently told Cargo Facts. Meanwhile, DHL has two more 767-300 conversions it has yet to receive of the eight it ordered in 2020, but is also dry leasing four newly converted 767-300BDSFs from Cargo Aircraft Management. DHL’s freighter-converted 767-300F fleet includes units converted by both Boeing and IAI. Both STC holders are in the process of adding substantial conversion capacity. Boeing recently added a third 767-300BCF conversion line at ST Engineering’s Changi (SIN) facility, and next year, will add two 767-300BCF conversion lines at the Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company Ltd. (GAMECO) facility in Guangzhou (CAN). IAI is also adding a new conversion site for its 767-300BDSF at the Ethiopian Airlines Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility in Addis Ababa (ADD). The 767-300 and A330-300 will each continue to have their place in the diverse DHL fleet worldwide. “From a DHL perspective, we are sourcing both,” Kehr said. While the A330s tend to serve slightly longer routes, “it's not a choice of A or B. We'll do both.” Cargo Facts Symposium, taking place LIVE October 25-27 at the Wynn Las Vegas, is the essential event for stakeholders in the air cargo industry. Learn more and register at www.cargofactssymposium.com .

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