Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE
Aerospace companies in Singapore and Taiwan are manoeuvring to claim a greater share of an expected boom in narrow and widebody airliner freighter conversions over the next few years.
In Taiwan, Boeing has signed a conversion agreement with Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, Air Asia, China Airlines (CAL) and Evergreen Aviation Technologies.
At the same time, Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aero) is starting to look at future prospects for Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family single-aisle conversions as replacements for ageing Boeing 727 freighter fleets from about 2002-3. One industry source suggests that there could be a market for up to 500 narrowbody freighter conversions over the next five to seven years.
Together with its Taiwanese partners, Boeing's Airplane Services (BAS) division plans to set up a freighter conversion centre in Taiwan - provisionally called the International Consortium on Airplane Service. Initially, work will focus on narrowbodies such as the Boeing 757 and 737, but it is eventually also looking at widebody work.
According to CAL, the project has been backed by the Taiwanese economics ministry's Committee for Aviation & Space Industry Development, which is seeking ways to develop the country's aerospace industry. The venture "has not been firmly established", says CAL. It adds that no launch date has been set and it could take another six months before the venture is completed. It has been reported that each of the Taiwanese partners will invest some NT$100 million ($3 million).
Meanwhile Singapore's ST Aero is looking beyond recent agreements with BAS to convert Boeing 757s, MD-11s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 tri-jets (Flight International, 29 February - 3 March) to other potential narrowbody conversion programmes such as for the 737 or A320 family. Other medium capacity types are being considered for conversion, for example the Airbus A300/A310.
ST Aero's Mobile, Alabama, division Mobile Aerospace has already converted some MDC tri-jets and is gearing up to modify 757-200s to freighters for DHL under a subcontract from BAS. The recent agreement with BAS covers MD-11/DC-10 conversions by ST Aviation Services at its facilities in Singapore.
Boeing confirms that ST Aero has approached it about the possibility of introducing a 737 freighter conversion capability. Airbus says it has no immediate intention to pursue A320 freighter conversions.
Source: Flight International
