Chinese maintenance company Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering (TAECO) has cemented its status as the main centre for Boeing 747-400 passenger-to-freighter conversions after Boeing committed to having another 17 aircraft modified there.
The follow-on commitment came in the form of a memorandum of understanding signed alongside delivery of the first 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) to launch customer Cathay Pacific Airways in December.
Boeing initially committed to having TAECO perform conversion work on 13 747-400s when Cathay launched the BCF programme early in 2004, but later increased that to 33. The new non-binding commitment could lift the total to 50.
Boeing and Cathay are minority shareholders in TAECO, which performed the modification work on the prototype 747-400BCF, which secured US Federal Aviation Administration certification on 12 December. It was the first time Boeing had an aircraft certificated outside the USA.
Cathay launched the 747-400BCF programme with a firm order for six conversions and options for six more. Its first converted aircraft has now entered service and modification work has begun at TAECO on a second BCF, for Japan Airlines, which is also a minority TAECO shareholder.
Boeing has firm deals with six customers for more than 30 747-400 conversions, says Boeing Commercial Aviation Services vice-president and general manager Lou Mancini. Two other 747-400BCF conversion centres have been identified to date: Korean Air’s Aerospace division in South Korea and SIA Engineering in Singapore.
NICHOLAS IONIDES/XIAMEN
Source: Flight International
