MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / SEATTLE
Israel Aircraft Industries' Bedek Aviation Group is finalising orders from two undisclosed customers for its recently launched Boeing 747-400 passenger to freighter (PTF) conversion.
With one deal covering the modification of combi aircraft, and the other a full passenger model, the company has to decide which version will be the lead programme, Bedek Aviation Group general manager David Arzi told Flight International at the Cargo Facts symposium in Seattle. "We expect to make that decision within six months, and may be able to do them in parallel," he says. Deliveries will begin in mid-2005.
The first -400 PTF conversion is believed to be a Lombard-owned, ex-SIA 747-400 which entered storage at Tel Aviv in July. According to industry sources, GE Capital Aviation Services is one of the launch customers, with a deal to convert two ex-Air Canada 747-400 combis it owns. IAI declines to comment on the customers' identities.
Arzi says the passenger conversion will be priced at $17-18 million, while the combi will be $13.5-14 million as it is already equipped with a main deck cargo door.
IAI is confident it will capture a large proportion of the market by becoming the first to launch, and sees a market for around 250 modifications over the next 20 years. "We will be able to convert eight aircraft a year in Tel Aviv, and we're looking for more capacity," says Arzi.
According to Bedek's director of marketing and business development Josh Oren, the IAI design will provide additional volume over the factory-built 747-400F by providing bulk cargo capacity in the larger rear upper deck, and by a rearrangement of the cockpit access from the main deck to enable more pallets to be accommodated. Arzi says the -400 PTF version will have about 5% less payload or range compared with the new-build freighter.
Meanwhile, IAI is poised to deliver its first 737-300 PTF conversion after the receipt of Israeli supplemental type certification. US Federal Aviation Administration and UK Civil Aviation Authority approval is expected soon to allow deliveries to begin this month, the first to an undisclosed UK operator.
Source: Flight International
