Custom Air Transport is confident it can find customers to allow 10 of the 16 Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 200s it acquired from Saudi Arabian Airlines to be converted into either commercial freighters or military tankers. Custom Air believes it could place some aircraft with passenger airlines.
The Fort Lauderdale-based company has offered some of the aircraft to the four consortia competing for the UK future strategic tanker aircraft (FSTA) requirement. The company aims to convert between six and 10 to cargo configuration, and keep one or two in passenger configuration for lease. The rest will be used for spares, says Custom Air general manager Richard Wellman.
"We're in constant conversation with Lockheed Martin [which recently relaunched the TriStar conversion programme using Marshall Aerospace's certificate] and Marshall and certain other repair stations about conversions to freighters," says Wellman. "We've also talked to all four consortia, including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Flight Refuelling and Circle, about the L-1011 as an alternative solution to FTSA."
The UK Royal Air Force already operates nine TriStar 500 transports converted byMarshall Aerospace, including tankers and cargo door-equipped models.
"We've identified customers that would have a general need for freighters and are focusing on a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 replacement," says Wellman.
Fine Air and Kittyhawk operate TriStar freighters and are thought to have held talks with Custom Air. In the meantime, the aircraft remain stored in Saudi Arabia.
Also parked are eight Boeing 737-200s that Custom has bought from the Saudi carrier. The company's plan is to sell the aircraft directly to an operator with minimum alteration. This leaves the carrier with 11 more 737s, some of which it cannot replace with new Boeing MD-90s because of airfield restrictions.
Source: Flight International
