SF Airlines extends life on growing 757F fleet
The carrier continues to add the type to its operations
Shenzhen-based SF Airlines has taken redelivery of a 2003-vintage 757-200PCF (33099, ex-TUI Airways) — its thirty-seventh 757 overall — after conversion with Precision Aircraft Solutions in Chengdu [FAT 006643].
SF is one of several airlines that continue to invest in the 757 platform, even as newer conversions of A321s ramp up.
The carrier has appointed Kansas-based Spirit AeroSystems to overhaul the cowlings of the Rolls-Royce RB211 engines on its fleet of 757 freighters and prolong their service life, according to the Kansas-based company.
Under the ten-year deal, SF technicians will remove the cowlings from the 757s and ship them to Spirit’s Short Brothers site in Belfast, Ireland, where the repairs will take place. Once the repairs are done, the cowlings will be sent back to SF Airlines. The whole process involves a “thirty-day turnaround from on dock to off dock,” a Spirit spokesman confirmed to Cargo Facts.
“This is very invasive work, where the inlet cowling is essentially deconstructed and reconstructed with the upgraded components. This requires extensive tooling and particular expertise that any airline is unlikely to have within their maintenance team,” the Spirit spokesman told Cargo Facts. “This is a product improvement that extends the life of the aircraft. We essentially overhaul the inlet cowling by replacing parts that are subject to fatigue damage with new upgraded components.”
SF Airlines has previously used Spirit to perform this task on an ad-hoc basis and sent the first 757 inlet to Spirit in 2017, the Spirit spokesman confirmed to Cargo Facts.
SF Airlines now has sixty-seven freighters. The Chinese carrier has more 757s on the way, having acquired three ex-American Airlines units (30887, 30886 and 30548) from AerSale in May, July and August 2021, respectively.
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