Aged UPS freighters undergo facelift
Airbus has handed over the first completed cockpit upgrade for UPS Airlines’ fleet of 52 A300-600 freighters. The aircraft, revitalised with state-of-the-art Honeywell cockpit avionics, was redelivered to UPS at Airbus’ US facility in Mobile, AL following the certification by EASA in December 2020 and by the FAA in January 2021.
This is the first time that such a complex upgrade has been performed on the A300. UPS, which requested a new cockpit, even 13 years after the end of production for this programme, expects to have the entire fleet converted by peak season of 2022.
Olivier Criou, VP head of the A300/A310 programme and chief engineer: “I am proud that after 50 years since the launch of the A300 programme, the aircraft undergoes a fantastic refresh and reaches state-of-the-art functionality." (ah)