ATSG acquires two passenger A321 aircraft to be converted to freighters
Emilie Drab
 le 30/06/2021 , Maintenance aéronautique
Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) announces that its subsidiary Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM) has committed to acquire its first two Airbus A321-200 passenger aircraft. They will then undergo passenger-to-freighter conversions by its other subsidiary, PEMCO Conversions, in Tampa, Florida.
The first aircraft will be acquired this year and will enter conversion in the fourth quarter. It is expected to be delivered CAM dry lease customer in the second quarter of 2022. The second will be delivered in the first quarter of 2022 and then converted in the second quarter for a re-delivery scheduled for the fourth quarter of the same year.
"We have accelerated our plans to invest in and offer this midsize, mid-range freighter type because our express-network customers have expressed strong interest in adding it to their fleets. Since the development of our passenger-to-freighter (PCF) conversion design for the A321-200 commenced in 2017, it was with the intention to extend our leased-freighter options into this airframe type in the future. It is very well suited for air-express service and e-commerce fulfillment over shorter routes and with smaller payloads as a complement to our existing fleet of more than eighty-five larger Boeing 767 converted freighters, and with better performance than Boeing 757 freighters or any Boeing 737 freighter variants. The time is right to launch this milestone initiative for ATSG and its aircraft leasing customers" said Mike Berger, CCO of ATSG.
PEMCO Conversions inducted its first A321-200 for conversion in June. The engineering design for passenger-to-freighter conversion was approved by the FAA in April and is owned by 321 Precision Conversions, a joint venture of ATSG and Precision Aircraft Solutions.
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