Podcast: Thrust Capital to enter regional freighter lease sector with Dash 8-Q400s

New lessor Thrust Capital is looking to capitalize on the Dash 8-Q400’s speed, range and container capacity by bringing large-cargo-door variants to the regional freighter market. Founder and Chief Executive Nico von Appen established the company after identifying an overlooked opportunity for the Q400, he says in this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect.” “I looked into it more myself because I was really convinced by the Q400 as a freighter, especially with the large cargo door,” von Appen says. “I was in contact with De Havilland and some regional lessors to talk about feedstock.” Thrust Capital plans to market the converted aircraft as the Regional Eco Wing Freighter and hopes to begin offering two units in 2027. Von Appen has identified four potential aircraft and expects feedstock availability to improve over the next few years. The Q400’s performance and capacity could give it an advantage in overnight feeder operations, he says. “There are analyses showing that you can operate one or two more flights per night compared with an ATR,” von Appen says. “You can get up to two more LD3 containers. You’re faster, you have a better climb rate and you have the power.” De Havilland is supporting Thrust Capital’s efforts to bring the approved large-cargo-door modification to market, while von Appen is in discussions with qualified MRO providers and prospective operators, he says. Tune in to this week’s episode of “Cargo Facts Connect” to hear von Appen discuss the Dash 8-Q400 conversion market, feedstock availability and his plans for Thrust Capital. A transcript is available below. This transcript has been generated by software and some transcription errors may remain. Robert Luke Hello and welcome to another episode of Cargo Facts Connect, the podcast of cargo facts, the publication of record for the air cargo and freighter aircraft industries for over 40 years. I’m Senior Associate Editor Robert Luke, and it's Friday, July 31st. Cargo Facts recently spoke with Thrust Capital Founder and CEO Nico von Appen, who discussed the launch and vision of his regional freighter leasing company. Take a listen. Robert Luke So before we get into questions that I have, just kind of take a few minutes, Nico, to just tell me a little bit about yourself and your background and how you actually established yourself in the industry as one of the leading innovators or supporters of new technology and development in the freighter and passenger segment. Nico von Appen Yeah, okay, well, I'm almost 52 years old, almost 30 years in the industry. I started, well, I'm German citizen in Hamburg. I started my career at Airbus in Hamburg. I did my apprenticeship there. I worked, I started my apprenticeship in 1992, and I worked until 2008 at Airbus. In 2008, as you might know, Airbus was kind of a financial struggle because of the crisis. So I have been offered a good payoff. Like many others, I took it and to be honest, I always wanted to, let's say, change the side of the table. I was more interested in from the operational sides and manufacturing. So at Airbus, I started as a mechanic. Then I had the chance to move from blue collar to white collar. I worked in quality and conformity configuration. And then, yeah, in 2008, I left Airbus. Then I worked for several companies, let's say, in the Airbus environment, like Saffron, Deal, things like that. And I was always heading to leasing. And one day I got a phone call from another ex-colleague from Airbus who changed or who started in an airline in Germany. You might have heard of Germania. Unfortunately, they got bust a couple of years ago. And he asked me, listen, Nico, I know you want to go into leasing, which is mainly a contracting job. So maybe it would be a good start. I'm looking for somebody to do base maintenance oversight for our Airbus and Boeing fleet in Prague. And I said, yeah, why not? Good start for me. So that's more or less how it started. That was my first job. I worked as a contractor. Unfortunately, during that first assignment, Germania went bust. It was not my fault, I swear. And well, yeah, then I thought, oh, nice. It was six months or seven months now, and now it looks like it will be a quick end. But I was lucky at that time because all the owners of the aircraft turned up. We had three lines at that time in Prague and different less was turned up and they knocked on my door and said, I use a rep from Germania. I said, yeah, don't go away. We sent you a contract. We're taking these aircrafts back now and you look after it. And I said, yeah, good, fair enough. That was the base maintenance and the next job was quite exciting for me and a good learning phase. And from that on, yeah, one year later I started my own company first in Germany. But as you might know, Europe or especially Germany can give you a headache founding a company and it's very difficult compared to the rest of the world. And before Brexit, I spoke to some UK guys in the same business and they said, because I was asking, how to set up a UK limited because that's easier for me. And they said, oh no, don't do it. Go for a different place because of Brexit. This will become a headache for a lot of people as well. Yeah, so then after talking to my tax advisor, I founded my current company, VA Aviation, for consultancy in the UAE. This was in 2006. Since that, it's running quite well, I would say. And yeah, and in the last three years, or let's say in the last four years, I specialize more on the freighter conversion side because for me, my first job at Airbus after my apprenticeship was in freighter conversion and it was very interesting for me in these days it was the A300 for UPS and FedEx. Yeah, and so I never lost interest in it. And then, yeah, now in the last couple of years, I did a lot of 330 conversions. I did 2 for Lufthansa, A321s, some 737s. Yeah. And it looks like I will do 2777s as well, but that's not confirmed yet. Yeah, and in these years, I, well, I came across, let's say, regional freighters, and I was surprised that nobody was focused on the Q400, where you have a nice STC from the Hover Land available. And yeah, in the last, I would say, yeah, almost three years now, I was close with two guys from Ireland who are already in leasing and they were thinking about converting. But then they said, no, it's too difficult, feedstock not available, a lot of problems. So I did that myself a bit more because I was really convinced of the Q400 as a freighter, especially with the LCD large cargo door. And so and I was in contact with the Harvey Land with some regional lessors to talk about feedstock. And now I, on my last project, I was in the UAE and I said, well, now I'm here. I'm setting up my second company. And this is why I founded a company called Thrust Capital. And the main goal is to convert Q400s with a large cargo door with some, let's say, some additional modifications I cannot talk about because that's still not, or let's say this is confidential. I registered a trademark for this called the Regional Eco Wing Freighter. In Europe and the US, for a start, I'm already in contact with operators who are very keen. I have very positive feedback. So yeah, and that's the reason why I said, come on, let's go for it. In the UA, I had some positive, let's say, talks about funding, which was quite surprising to me. And Europe, it's very difficult. You come to the UAE, you found a company and everybody's knocking on your door. Do you want to make business? Do you want to make business? I said, yeah, of course. So that's my story so far, yeah. Robert Luke Nico, thank you for sharing. Before I start asking questions about Thrust Capital and the exciting venture you're journeying on with the Q400s, tell me how much did your maintenance experience open the door for you to enter into this leasing space with Germania and when it went bankrupt? And how, or was that a starting point for you to really start learning about the finance aspect of the business when you begin that. Kind of expand on that a little bit for me, if you don't mind. Nico von Appen Yeah, okay. So during the base maintenance, that was, let's say, it was a good basement to start into leasing because I come from a manufacturer side, nothing to do with finance or financial things. And, but, well, I was always very interested in, even in the beginning to, well, let's say I had no clue at all, to be honest. So the base maintenance was a good start. And then I got pushed more or less into the cold water, which was quite a good experience because for me, it's possibly the best way for learning to do it the hard way. I'm a bit lazy. At school, I was lazy. But now I always found it very, very interesting. And from every project, the more you get involved, the more you're learning. And as you know, in this business, there's always something new and you are always learning, learning. Every week is something different and that makes it even more interesting. And yeah. Robert Luke So now you've seen, based on your sharing of experience and background, you've covered quite a few jets and the freighted passenger to freighted conversions, whether it's the Airbus 321s, the 737s, even the A300 wide bodies with FedEx that you mentioned when you were with Airbus. As I start to ask questions about Thrust Capital, why the Q400? What brought you to that? What put you in that direction? Nico von Appen I was well, you are from the US, but well, you are in this industry as well, so I'm pretty sure you you heard about the the bank the bankruptcy of the of an English airline that has a big Q400 fleet. Robert Luke FlyBe? Nico von Appen Yes, and one lessor at this time, it was Argo. They parked about, I think, 18 aircraft in Germany and Zapriton. And I got hired to look after them. And at that point, I spoke to a lot of lessors. And the first time somebody said, maybe, well, we might go for part out. or there's a chance to convert it. And I never, at that time, I never heard about a converted Q400. I only know about the ATR. And, well, yeah, that was the starting point for me to start thinking about it, talking to other guys, and then... I read an article about the De Havilland STC for the freighter. They have the large cargo door, the parcels and the quick change. And well, I was interested in the large cargo door only because you can use the LD3. And when you start thinking the LD3 containers and when you start thinking about it, well, listen, you have you can get up to two more LD containers into a Q400. It's quicker, better range, almost double. And that's how it started, yeah. And I, well, and I thought everybody is converting 737s at that point. time, it just started with the Airbus 320. I did some, or a lot of 330s before in Dresden, but I always was thinking about that could be a thing. Plus, I found out about two or three more modifications you can do on the Q400, which make it really more efficient and get closer to the fuel consumption to an ATR. Yeah, and well, then I did my homework. And for the moment, I'm still very, very positive because of the feedback I received. Robert Luke Is there enough Q400 fee stock to support this new direction you're going in with Thrust Capital? Nico von Appen Yeah. Yeah, it's there is feedstock and well, the experts are even more positive about the next couple of years that more feedstock will be available. And yeah, it's a mobile, as you know, feedstock is in general a big problem. It doesn't matter if you want to convert or not. Any aircraft type has high demands still because of the, let's say, bottlenecks at the manufacturers. They cannot bring as much or as many aircraft as required for the market. There are some, But it's not like you go out, hello, I need six. And within two months you have six. That's unfortunately not how it goes. And in the end, it's a business. You don't want to lose your money. So it's obviously it's a challenge. but much better than two or three years ago, I would say. Robert Luke Okay, so looking at the market segment in which you're focusing on. Compare the, what are the, you compare the pros and cons of the Q400 to the recently approved SOF 2000 and the ATRs that are currently on the market right now. And what enables the Q400 to not only stand out, but become attractive to potential clients you're reaching out to? Nico von Appen Well, it's the speed for overnight feeders, for example. There are some analyses that you can do one or two more flights per night compared to an ATR. And well, yeah, as I said, you can get up to two more LD3 containers. Yeah, you're faster, better climb rate and the power. Everybody likes the engines despite the fuel consumption. But yeah, that's the feedback I got. But for me, I'm in contact, well, I have two main contacts at De Havilland. And we are exchanging, I would say, two or three times per month at the moment. They are very supportive because they want to get this STC on the market as well. And well, yeah, so far, it's quite good. And with founding this new company, I think I'm more reliable now because at the moment, in the beginning, it was just like another guy who might have a stupid idea. And but I think, well, I noticed myself that it is much better now and they are very open and they don't tell or they don't make any predictions that's not going to happen because as you know, with a large cargo door, The STC, it's nothing that would be available within three months and all this which is required for my planning. They are very open which MROs are certified to do this. I'm already in court. contact with two of them because they are in Europe and one is in the UAE, so sorry, three. Yeah, so that's, I was quite surprised. To be honest, it was a rough start by, I understand that. Who is this guy? A consultant is asking this question, this question. But now it's, yeah, I would say, very professional. Robert Luke Interesting. All right. Now, that being said, you've indicated the level of interest from your customer portfolio. How, how has the actual? search for, or I should say, securing A feedstock. You mentioned a lessor had 18 of these aircraft parked. Are those assets you have direct access to? Are you still negotiating the framework to acquire those feedstocks so you can start converting them? Where are you at in that process? And when do you hope to have that finalized? Nico von Appen Yeah. Well, I was in or I'm still in contact with less horse or owners, and I would say 80% of them are out of range for my for my plans or for my project. And currently, I have 4 MSNs that look quite interesting to me. I can tell they are at least 13 years old or older. So nothing newer than this. Yeah, and on the others, they were, well, let's say, newer or the engines, the LLPs were not interesting anymore for this kind of project. But at the moment, I have four that might be interesting, and I would like to start with two aircraft, if possible, yeah. Robert Luke Okay. Okay, what is Thrust Capital from your vision and mindset as you implement your strategy. What does your portfolio look like five years from now? And are there any other aircraft types beyond the Q400 you would like to see on this portfolio? Nico von Appen Well, Thrust Capital won't be the next aerap or SMBC or something. It's just, well, as many times you start in a niche market you are convinced of. I already, because you mentioned it, I already have the Saab 2000 in mind as well, because in Sweden they made quite a good job. I've been there twice, not to see the SAP 2000 conversion, but for other projects. Even the 340 is there still a market, not like 50 or 60 aircraft, but I would say, well, 12 at least. But it's difficult to get a feedstock for these because more or less the remaining fleet is owned by 1 lessor, I would say, or maybe 2. And yeah, for me, Saab 2000 would be interesting. I know it's not with the cargo door, but it looked for me, it looks like another niche market where you can find some customers. But for the moment, for the moment, it's the Q400 that will be a lot of work anyway. And if in five years, if I'm still in the market, I think that would be still good. Or if I can get into the market, I don't have plans like in five years I want to have a line producing four or five Q400s in the year. So that's not going to happen. It's A niche market. It will be a niche company and I'm happy with that. Robert Luke Gotcha. Okay. As you continue to grow Thrust Capital, how involved will you continue to be in the existing platforms that you were supporting, whether it's the 737s, the A321s, the triple 7s, and what are some of the latest interactions you've had with those projects specifically, if you can expand on that. Nico von Appen Well, yeah, as I told you, I still have my consultancy company. I'm just on a project with two 777s re-delivered from the UAE to the lessor and the lessor wants to convert. That's all I can say about this for the moment. And yeah, I know it will be a big step to have both companies under control because for my consultancy company, I have up to 12 people working in parallel for this company, which is like working on two or three projects at the same time. But I have really good stuff. We are working together for years now. And same story here. Even if you get requests to do more, I try to keep it handy, let's say handy, so that I still can control everything without getting bigger and bigger and bigger. For me, it's quality instead of quantity. I'm German. Robert Luke I like that. You know, that's always a good thing. You know, when you look at that approach, it's reflective not only in the aviation industry with the products made in Germany, but also just in looking at the automobile industry, you know, where there's Mercedes, BMW, quality products for years. Nico von Appen Yeah. Robert Luke And on that note, I'll just ask one last question. Just with your direct interactions with the lessors, past the operators, as well as the MROs, and your personal experience from just doing free to conversion, whether it's consultation or actual engineering, where do you see the availability of fee stock, specifically with the triple sevens in the next four to five years from your hands-on exposure and frontline work that you're doing right now. Nico von Appen 777, I think still will be difficult, same as same as 330. On the narrow bodies, 737 and Airbus, I would say there will be a better Access to the market then to the wide body, I think, triple 7. The certifications of the new 777 is still ongoing, and even when they have the certification, they cannot they cannot build 50 aircraft or 60 per year. That's not going to happen. Same with the A330, I would say. So wide body will be remain more difficult than narrow body. That's my opinion. Robert Luke That was Thrust Capital Founder and Chief Executive Nico von Appen. And that’s all the time we have for today. For more coverage of the freighter aircraft market, visit cargofacts.com. Thank you very much for tuning in, and join us again next time. Subscribe to Cargo Facts Connect on iTunes or Spotify , or download the episode on Transistor . Cargo Facts Symposium 2026, the premier event for the freighter aircraft and air cargo industries, will take place in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 21-23. Find out more and register by Sept. 4 to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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