US MRO company Pemco World Air Services has created a Boeing 737-700 passenger-to-freighter conversion programme, with the first aircraft going to Dubai-based launch customer Chisholm Enterprises.
Pemco will convert aircraft into straight 737-700 Freighters and into passenger-freighter combination variants that Pemco calls 737-700FC FlexCombis, according to the company.
Pemco announced the news on the first day of the MRO Americas trade show in Orlando.
Rendition of Pemco's 737-700F and 737-700FC
Pemco.
The MRO provider will begin conversion work on the first aircraft – a 737-700FC for Chisholm – at its Tampa site in the second quarter of 2017, Pemco says.
The company expects the Federal Aviation Administration will certify the type by mid-2018, after which Pemco will seek certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The launch customer is Chisholm subsidiary Texel Air, a charter cargo airline, which will operate the 737-700FC from Bahrain International Airport, Pemco says.
Texel already operates two Pemco-converted 737-300Fs, Pemco adds.
The company offers the 737-700FC in configurations of 12 or 24 passengers.
The 12-passenger derivative will carry seven pallets, 15,876kg (35,000lb) of cargo and hold 85m3 of cargo volume, while the 24-passenger variant will carry six pallets, up 13,608kg of cargo and have 75m3 of cargo volume, Pemco says.
Stripped of seats, the 737-700FC will have 95m3 of cargo volume, carry eight pallets and up to 18,144kg.
The all-cargo 737-700F will carry up to nine pallets, 20,412kg and have 109m3 of cargo volume, according to Pemco.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
