No Dubai deals but big interest in converted freighters

Last week’s Dubai Airshow passed without any orders for full freighters, but that doesn’t mean freighters were absent. In fact, there were three converted freighters on static display that attracted significant attention. The largest was the Boeing 777-300ERSF, converted by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) as part of an order that was originally placed by GECAS. The lessor is now part of AerCap, of course, so it was AerCap that arranged the tours inside the vast cabin which ran a blue carpet almost over the full length of the aircraft. AerCap reported lots of interest from potential operators who wanted to see the aircraft in Dubai. AerCap has twenty 'Big Twins' on firm order plus another ten options, while IAI is said to have secured various orders of its own. An AerCap spokesperson said that IAI currently has four 777-300ERs in for conversions. This includes the second ‘experimental’ aircraft that was on display in Dubai. The first aircraft is doing all of the tests for the certification program, which should be concluded before the end of this year or in early 2024. Blue carpets welcomed visitors of the Boeing 777-300ERSF in Dubai. (Richard Schuurman) Kalitta Air will take delivery of the first few aircraft. Other customers include Emirates SkyCargo, Fly Meta, EVA Air Group, Altavair, CargoJet, Central Airlines, Honghyuan Group, Jiangxi Air, and Challenge Air Cargo. Conversions are done in cooperation with HAECO and Etihad Engineering, which announced in 2021 that it would open a 777 line in Abu Dhabi. Airbus P2Fs Also on static display was an Airbus A321P2F in the colors of SalamAir of Oman and the smaller A320P2F of Pradhaan Air Express, an Indian cargo airline that launched operations only in October 2022. In Dubai, Vaayu Group announced that it is taking a controlling investment in Pradhaan. Vaayu is based in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the emirates of the UAE, and is active in aircraft leasing, MRO, and training. At the Dubai Airshow, AirInsight spoke to Vaayu’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Mustafa Irfan Dhankot, on board the A320P2F. This is actually the world’s first converted A320, with the work completed by Elbe FlugzeugWerke (EFW) last year. The aircraft was built in 2006 and has operated for many years with IndiGo in India. It remains in the country with Pradhaan Air Express, which operates with its own crew on many routes to Asia and once and a while to Europe. “Actually, we have a firm order for five aircraft plus five options. This A320P2F is our first freighter. The whole idea of freighter conversions started in 2018 when ST Engineering invited Vaayu to partner with them for the first conversion. We were very interested from a logistics perspective to expand its horizon. It happened at the right time, so we partnered with ST and got this program running and moving,” says Dhankot. Vaayu's Mustafa Irfan Dhankot is most happy with the payload/range performance of the Airbus A320P2F. (Richard Schuurman) While Pradhaan operates in and out of India, Vaayu will position the other A320P2Fs on order in various markets. “The next two aircraft are going to an operator in Northern Africa (to Astral Aviation) and the two after that possibly in the Gulf/GCC region. There is a huge demand in Africa to go to the GCC and Europe to transport perishables and livestock, seafood., but also between the Indian subcontinent to the GCC, from the GC to Europe, and from Africa to the GCC. The GCC is like a sponge, it is absorbing demand.” Although cargo yields still are keeping up, volumes in tonnes carried have seen a significant drop from record-high levels during the pandemic. Yet, Irfan Dhankot says that the demand for e-commerce is strong. “We are quite bombastic in our view on the market. We really feel that the air freight market can’t stay low, it must have reached the bottom. The only way is up. So we see a lot of interest in the aircraft, we see a lot of cargo movements. We get inquiries on a daily basis for transportation of livestock and perishables.” Vaayu prefers the A320P2F Although the A320P2F is shorter than the more popular A321P2F, Dhankot is most happy with the smaller Airbus. It has space for ten containers and one pallet on the upper deck plus seven LD3 containers in the belly hold. “The A320P2F is well-known in the market, but the A320P2F not many people know, because it is only in service since October last year. The aircraft is a bit later in the game.” “The A320 is a popular passenger aircraft and it will become the same in the freighter market. It has a much better payload versus range compared to the A321P2F. The payload of the 321 is higher, but the range is more. People ask for a 320.”

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