TAM launches Saab 2000 conversion program

Sweden-based Taby Air Maintenance (TAM) and Florida-based lessor Jetstream Aviation Capital have teamed up to launch a freighter conversion program for Saab 2000s. The companies anticipate achieving certification with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) by the end of March, according to a joint statement. [caption id="attachment_417232" align="alignright" width="560"] Unit 037 has been parked in Oreboro since 2019. (Photo/Taby Air Maintenance)[/caption] Donald Kamenz, global director of Saab 2000 leasing and sales at Jetstream, told Cargo Facts that the Saab 2000 makes for “a very natural freighter.” “It’s a great market for the Saab 2000 to be flown in and operated into because it gives you all kinds of performance that regional jets do not have,” Kamenz said. “It has a very long-legged range for cargo and speed. You can get in and out of small airports, it has a lot of power with the Allison engine, and there are not a lot of performance limitations.” TAM, which will carry out the design and engineering work at its facility in Orebro (ORB), Sweden, told Cargo Facts that it had started seriously looking at converting Saab 2000s about a year ago, and that the conversion is based on that of the smaller Saab 340 but there are some differences and new challenges. TAM confirmed that the first aircraft is the 1996-vintage unit 037 (ex-Eastern Airways), which has been at ORB since May 2019. The Saab 2000 freighter will offer a total cargo volume of 1,960 cubic feet (55.4 cubic meters) and a maximum payload of 14.600 pounds (6,622 kg), with six net-divided loading areas, according to TAM. The max payload for Part 135 charter operations will be restricted to 7,500 pounds (3,402 kg). Launch customer Jetstream, which has also converted Saab 340s with TAM, has been looking into the idea of converting the Saab 2000 for some time. The volatility of the air cargo market has been hard to miss, Kamenz said, and many cargo operators have been operating at max capacity without many new platforms. Jetstream confirmed that it currently owns thirty Saab 2000s, more than any other company. “We will convert as many as the market opportunity requires but believe there is a market for at least fifteen to twenty aircraft in cargo configuration,” CEO Stuart Klaskin told Cargo Facts. Klaskin confirmed that Jetstream does already have an initial customer for the Saab 2000 freighter but declined to identify the company. The lessor is targeting both integrators as well as scheduled and charter operators, Kamenz told Cargo Facts . “We’re testing the markets around the world right now just to kind of see where the interest is or where people see a future for this size of aircraft within the cargo markets,” he said. Jetstream, which is also the largest owner and lessor of Saab 340s with forty units in mixed configuration, recently told Cargo Facts that while many of its historical Saab 340 passenger-to-freighter conversions were ordered without a committed lessee, that has changed in the current environment. Last year, Maine-based C&L Aviation also told Cargo Facts that it was seeing greater interest in Saab 340B conversions . While the two Saab models are different, Kamenz thinks they’re complementary to each other. “We see one supporting the other. I would totally see somebody who operates a 340 freighter using a 2000 freighter,” he said. “This is a market niche that we feel isn’t really being served or is even being targeted, because it’s not even identified.”

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