The market for cargo conversion of widebodied aircraft has been booming recently, as suitable aircraft have become available at the "right price" to make conversion programmes cost-effective. Although the Boeing 747 has been the prime candidate, the European specialists have developed conversions for the smaller, twin and tri-jet widebodies, the Airbus A300/A310, the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-10.
British Aerospace's Filton, UK-based division, BAe Aviation Services launched its A300B4 conversion programme in early 1996 when Bournemouth, UK-based freight carrier Channel Express placed orders and options for up to four conversions, with the first converted aircraft being flown in late January 1997.
The decision by British Aerospace to launch its own conversion programme for the A300 was made despite the fact that conversions were available within the Airbus grouping through German partner Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) Airbus, which has been installing Airbus cargo doors since 1979. After initially discussing a joint "Airbus" programme with Dasa and French Airbus partner Aerospatiale, BAe decided to go it alone during 1995.
More Customer choice
"What we have done is provide the customer with a choice," says BAe Aviation Services managing director Cliff Duke. "We are offering a conversion at the 'right price', and this has created a market for the conversion. We have generated interest that wasn't there before."
Duke acknowledges that the increasing availability of used A300 airframes in recent years has helped the market for the 45,000kg twin-engined widebody freighter evolve. Since the BAe freighter was launched, about 20 orders and options have been placed for A300 conversions with BAe and Dasa.
With the conversion competitively priced at around $5 million, Duke is focusing on customer support beyond the conversion as a key element of the BAe sales campaign. This is one reason, according to Duke, why BAe, unlike Dasa, does not offer the conversion as a kit for customers or maintenance organisations to install themselves.
As well as competing for business with its Airbus partner, BAe's A300B4 freighter is pitched into the same market as that for the used tri-jet DC-10 and L-1011 TriStar freighter conversions offered by Alenia and Marshall Aerospace, respectively. "What the operators have to consider is the trade-off of the [A300's] twin-engined economics versus the tri-jets' greater payload/range capability," says Duke.
Of the 250 A300Bs built between 1972 and 1985(including B1s, B2s, B4s and C4/F4 freighters), around 190 A300B4 passenger aircraft remain in operation. BAe envisages a market for up to 80 of these aircraft to be converted.
The idle A300 fleet has been running at the 40-50 aircraft level in recent years, and, says Duke, the evolution of a "new role is good news...we have effectively extended the service life of these 15-year-old aircraft for at least another 20-30 years, and restored confidence in the market for the type," he says.
The increased-MTOW B4-200 version is the most suitable freighter candidate, and BAe offers an upgrade from B4-100 standard as an option. This modification costs upwards of $1 million, however, but the company will also undertake any maintenance checks required during the conversion, to enable the converted airframes to be delivered "fresh".
Two Filton lines
Duke says that, once the programme is up to speed (by aircraft Number 6 or 7), the conversions (including a D-level maintenance check) should be completed in around 90-95 days downtime. "We will have two lines in the main Filton hangar, enabling seven to eight conversions to be completed per year," he says. If demand increases, then BAe could offer additional US conversion capacity through Timco's base at Greensboro, North Carolina.
The design of BAe's 3.58 x 2.56m cargo door was carried out in the USA by BAe programme partner Flight Structures (FSI), which will hold the US Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certification (STC) design authority for the conversion. The cargo door and its surround are manufactured by BAe Aerostructures at Filton, while US company AAR provides the cargo-handling system.
With the official Airbus original-equipment manufacturers' (OEMs') stress data owned by Dasa Airbus, FSI has developed a finite-element model to design the installation. The modification has, however, come under intense scrutiny from the FAA in the wake of concerns about non-OEM converted Boeing 747s and 727s, considerably delaying the STC process.
BAe had expected the STC to have been awarded by the end of 1996, but approval is still outstanding. Channel is hoping that it will have its first aircraft in service by May, and has a contract to fly a twice-weekly service from London in the UK, to Tel Aviv in Israel, for British Airways Cargo.
To date, BAe has taken firm orders for 11 conversions, including the single contract for Channel (plus three options) and ten for US lessor C-S Aviation Services. Although eventual operators for these aircraft have not been announced, the major package carriers have been in discussion with C-S on possible leases.
Duke says that he has no plans to expand the civil conversion programme to include the smaller Airbus A310, because "-there is not enough demand" beyond the FedEx contract, which Dasa is undertaking. He does see longer-term "installation opportunities", however, for the proposed military multi-role tanker-transport modification for which the A310 could be adopted as a platform.
German Airbus partner Dasa Airbus developed the original A300 side-cargo door, which was first installed on new-build A300C4s (convertibles) and F4s (freighters) from the late 1970s. Initial A300/A310 cargo aircraft were completed as passenger airframes at Toulouse, and ferried to Dasa's plants in Bremen and Hamburg for the doors to be installed.
First A300 cargo aircraft
Hapag Lloyd was the first A300 cargo operator. It took delivery of the first A300C4 in January 1980, certificated under service-bulletin type approval. New-build A300 freighters, such as those for FedEx, are now built with the door installed into the fuselage sections during subassembly construction. This work is still Dasa Airbus' responsibility.
FedEx launched Dasa's cargo-door-retrofit programme with an initial order for 13 conversions in September 1993, having purchased Lufthansa's fleet of A310-200s. The first A310 delivery, and US STC approval, occurred in July 1994. The US express-parcels specialist has since acquired additional ex-Swissair and KLM A310s for conversion, and has now taken some 31 A310-200Fs from Dasa.
During 1996, Dasa began transferring the cargo-conversion programme from its Finkenwerder, Hamburg base to the Elbe Flugzeugwerke works in Dresden, explains Jürgen Habermann, director of sales on Dasa Airbus' commercial-aircraft modification programmes. "There was pressure at Hamburg for more production capacity, as work on the Airbus [A319/A321] assembly line has been increasing," says Habermann, "so we had to either find new premises or expand Hamburg." At about the same time, subassembly work for the Fokker 70/100 at Dresden was winding down, and so the freighter programme has been transferred. Work began at Dresden in June 1996, and the last two A310s are about to be completed at Hamburg.
"At Hamburg, a maximum rate of one aircraft per month could be converted, while now we will be able to complete 14 conversions annually," says Habermann, "with downtime now less than four months per aircraft." With the move to Dresden, Dasa now offers heavy-maintenance work as part of the modification. "We only undertake maintenance work at Dresden on aircraft undergoing conversion," explains Habermann, who adds: "General maintenance work is carried out by our partner [the Aerospatiale subsidiary] Sogerma at Bordeaux."
Egyptair order
In September 1996, Dasa received its first A300B4 order, when Egypt Air contracted for two -200s to be converted for operation by its cargo division. Since then, US leasing company Pinnacle Aircraft Leasing has contracted for for the first two (ex-Egyptair) of an expected five A300B4 freighter-conversion deal.
Work on the initial two A300s at Dresden for Pinnacle is now under way, with the first aircraft scheduled for redelivery in July, at which time Dasa expects to receive its US FAA STC for the A300 conversion.
Dasa is the Airbus partner responsible for forward-fuselage design and production and, says Habermann, "-the Airbus partner responsible for conversions, Dasa (and not Airbus) owns the OEMstress data, and [the use of the OEM data] will mean that no certification delays are expected".
Airbus predicts a demand for about 250-400 medium-capacity twin and tri-jet widebody freighters over the next ten years, with the air-cargo market growing by 7% annually. "Of these, we expect over 100 to be Airbus A300s, and Dasa aims to convert 70% of those aircraft," says Habermann.
Dasa had been offering the conversion for around $6-9 million, but increased competition has seen this be more competitively priced, at $5.5 million. Maintenance, or weight upgrades, add to this figure.
"There are several more deals being discussed," says Habermann, while Bristol Associates, which is remarketing the Pinnacle aircraft, says that it has had "significant interest" from carriers in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America.
Unlike BAe, Dasa also offers the cargo conversion in kit-form, with four being installed by its maintenance partner, Sogerma, at Bordeaux, on Canadian Air Force A310-300s to create combi/convertibles. Habermann says that Sogerma is Dasa's first option for additional conversion capacity should the demand exceed Dresden's capability, and he adds that a US site would also be available if necessary.
A cargo door is yet to be developed for the single-aisle A320 family, although various operators, such as Lufthansa, have expressed interest in a cargo, or QC, version. Habermann says that the technical feasibility work has been undertaken, but that the fleet is still young and the price would be prohibitively expensive in the short term. "We also see demand for A330/A340 conversions in the longer term," he adds.
Marshalling experience
Having converted ex-British Airways TriStar 500s to tanker/freighters for the Royal Air Force in the early 1980s, Cambridge, UK-based Marshall Aerospace decided to build upon this experience and develop a conversion for the civil market.
The company linked with Lockheed Aeronautical Systems (LASC), the Marietta, Georgia, division of Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin), to develop the civil freighter. Meanwhile, another division of Lockheed, the Ontario, California-based Lockheed Aircraft Services, was developing its own TriStar freighter conversion, dubbed "TriStar 2000", but this programme was never to receive a launch order and is now no longer being actively promoted.
The LASC connection provided Marshall with vital OEM stressing data and engineering support, and gave the company a fast track to the various manufacturer-developed weight upgrades offered for the TriStar. These upgrades, which Marshall was already undertaking on passenger aircraft, will considerably improve the performance of early-build models, if they become freighters.
With an estimated market for at least 50 conversions, Marshall courted the various major TriStar operators (such as Saudi Arabian Airlines and Gulf Air) for several years, but no orders were forthcoming. Then, in July 1994, the programme got its break when US carrier American International Airways (AIA) concluded a deal to acquire some stored ex-BA TriStar 200s for freighter conversion. Arrow Air has two outstanding options, which could be taken up during 1997. Another converted aircraft, an ex-LTU -200 owned by International Lease Finance, is leased to Millon Air.
The first aircraft was redelivered to AIA in August 1995, the same month in which the FAA STC was awarded and, to date, six aircraft have been modified for the US freight airline. Meanwhile, International Air Leases acquired three of the eight Gulf Air TriStar 200s, and these are now operated by Arrow Air, which also has two outstanding options.
The last of the ten contracted conversions was completed and delivered late in 1996, but, according to Michael Milne, Marshall's marketing and business-development director, a "significant order for more conversions" could be announced in the next three months. Various express-parcels specialists, such as Burlington Air Express, DHL and Emery, are considering their options for fleets of widebody freighters, and it seems likely that at least one will chose the TriStar, and the Marshall Aerospace conversion, for its needs.
Despite competition from the DC-10 and A300, Milne is confident that the original 50-aircraft market for the TriStar is achievable, and believes that it could be even greater. "Although the A300 is competitive in the package-carrier market where the volume, rather than the payload, is the driver, the TriStar is better suited to the role of regional feeder to the long-haul types such as the 747 as, unlike the A300, it can accommodate 2.4 x 3.2m pallets side-by-side. We can carry 22 of these 747-sized pallets in two rows, compared to only 14 in one row on the A300," he says.
Tristar payload
The converted TriStar 200, stressed for a maximum ramp weight of 216,000kg, can carry a maximum payload of 57,000kg. Marshall's civil freight door, at 2.92m x 3.94m, is larger than the original item developed for the RAF, and those offered for the A300 and DC-10. The size, says Milne, has been "-a significant selling point - the door opening allows 6.1m pallets to be manoeuvred in to the aircraft, and it can accommodate a fully dressed [Rolls-Royce] RB.211 engine on a pallet."
Large fleets of good TriStar airframes remain to be converted, such as those of Saudi Arabian (17 aircraft) and Delta Air Lines (over 50 aircraft). "We are discussing with people like Delta ways to work together on moving their fleets," says Milne.
The Saudi Arabians have for some time being considering options for their TriStars, including conversion to civil freighters for the airline, or a more extensive modification into tanker/transports for the air force.
The earliest TriStars are almost 25 years old, but Milne says that Lockheed is conducting an ageing-aircraft "review-and-approval" process to support an operational life of 45,000 flight cycles. "Lockheed looked for a life which should be easily achievable without additional significant work on the airframe," says Milne.
Marshall's Cambridge base can accommodate three conversions simultaneously, while a further two could fit at Lockheed Martin's Greensville, South Carolina, plant, "-using kits supplied by us", explains Milne. "We complete the work within an 18-week period, with a D-check able to be carried out in parallel," he says. The modification has a "sticker price" of $7-8 million, depending on configuration.
Alenia's maintenance and overhaul division, Aeronavali, established itself as a major conversion centre for the MDC DC-8 during the 1980s, following its exclusive licensing agreement with MDC to convert a total of 47 DC-8-70s to freighters.
The company added an exclusive agreement for DC-10 freighter modifications in 1990 and has now converted some 14 aircraft (plus an MD-11) at its Venice plant. Increased demand for conversions has resulted in a second line being introduced at Naples.
Aeronavali is MDC's "European second-source location" to the SabreTech line in Phoenix, Arizona, for the FedEx DC-10/MD-10 conversions, and it has already begun work on the first of 13 DC-10-10s under contract to MDC. The total FedEx/MDC contract is worth some L700 billion ($413 million) to Aeronavali, and includes options for up to 30 more conversions.
"Our exclusive licensing agreement means that our conversions are certificated under an amended type design [ATD]," explains Aernovali commercial director Gianni Tritto. "The ATDs are issued through MDC, which means that the converted aircraft are certificated like new-build DC-10 freighters delivered from the Long Beach line."
Alenia has a longstanding relationship with MDC, and is responsible for the manufacture of fuselage skins and other components for all its in-production models. The company manufactures the cargo-door components for new-build MD-11 freighters, and is supporting MDC's US DC-10/MD-11 conversions, with the supply of components.
The conversion involves installation of a 3.55 x 2.64m cargo door and structural strengthening. The DC-10's door has the same dimensions as that of the MD-11. Major overhaul work can also be carried out simultaneously.
Dffering downtime
"Downtime is running at around four months for a DC-10-30 conversion," says Tritto, "while the -10 requires more strengthening work and takes about one month longer." Tritto adds that Aeronavali is working to increase commonality between components for the different DC-10 variants, which will reduce downtime. The conversion is priced at $7-9 million, depending on the variant and the work required.
In payload terms, the DC-10 is the most capable of the three medium-capacity widebodies, with Aeronavali claiming that the -10 is able to carry up to 66,000kg, and the -30 up to 75,000kg. Ironically, the DC-10 is a victim of its own success, as its appeal in both passenger and cargo roles has forced values up and affected the pricing of the overall package, therefore making room in the market for the cheaper, but less desirable, TriStar. "The market price of the platform is changing day by day - two years ago, the aircraft's overall-pricing [ie, airframe purchase price, plus conversion cost] was really competitive," says Tritto.
"Since then, FedEx has bought all the [available] -10s, while -30 availability is diminishing, causing values to mushroom," he adds.
The 14 DC-10s converted by Aeronavali to date are a mix of -10s and -30s for clients which include DAS Air Cargo, FedEx, Gemini Air Cargo, International Lease Finance and United Airlines. The company has an agreement in principle on a follow-on MD-11 programme, and it has already converted one new-build MD-11 originally completed as a passenger aircraft, but delivered as a freighter following a re-allocation of customer.
"We now have five conversion slots available, three in Venice and two in Naples," says Tritto, "and have the ability to add more if necessary." Tritto expects that, ultimately, all the remaining passenger DC-10s and MD-11s will become freighters (potentially, more than 400 aircraft), with the work shared between MDC and Aeronavali. "We expect Aeronavali will be converting at least ten to 15 aircraft annually over the next few years," he says.
Source: Flight International
