Chinese cargo airline start-ups East Pacific Airlines and Okay Airways are preparing to launch domestic operations with locally-converted Boeing 737-300Fs.
East Pacific plans to start operations this week with a six-times weekly service from its base in Shenzhen, southern China, to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, says the airline's chief executive Zhou Yunda. The carrier received its first aircraft last month and its second 737-300F is due to arrive in Shenzhen in October. Both aircraft were converted at Shandong TAECO Aircraft Engineering (STAECO) in the Chinese city of Jinan, using the supplemental type certificate of 737 conversion specialist Pemco Aviation of the USA.
STAECO, with the help of Pemco, will also be doing the conversion work on Okay Airways' first two 737-300Fs which the Chinese carrier plans to operate in China on behalf of FedEx, says a Chinese industry source.
Okay Airways, which is currently a passenger carrier based in Beijing's port city Tianjin, has just secured two 737-300s which were delivered to STAECO on 8 September for conversion into freighters, says the source. The Chinese carrier will operate the 737-300s on seven-year leases from Deutsche Bank, which is buying the aircraft from Air China. The conversions are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.
Source: Flight International
