‘Tween Elbe and Bosphorus
Turkish Technic and EFW cooperate on A330 P2F conversions. Elbe Flugzeugwerke recently delivered its second converted Airbus A330 freighter to Turkey’s MNG Airlines (see page 44 of ITJ 41-42 / 2022). From autumn next year onwards, this type of aircraft will to be manufactured in Turkey too.
To meet growing demand for converted full-freighter planes, Singapore’s ST Engineering and Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), the joint venture of the former with Airbus, have set up new conversion plants in China as well as in the United States of America over the past two years.
A range of opportunities
Now Turkish Technic, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, has become the first of what the partners hope will be a long series of third parties to use one of EFW’s converted Airbus A330s. The agreement was arrived at recently by the executive management teams of EFW and Turkish Technic, Turkish Airlines’ maintenance, repair and overhaul enterprises (MRO). Turkey’s transport and infrastructure minister, Adil Karaismailoglu, also attended the ceremony, which was held in Istanbul early in October.
The first conversion at Turkish Technic’s plant at Sabiha Gökçen airport, on the Asian side of the metropolis on the Bosphorus, is scheduled to start in the third quarter 2023.
“Our Airbus A330P2F programme is increasingly seen as the preferred next-generation platform in the medium to widebody category. Our collaboration with Turkish Technic, which has experience in Airbus aircraft maintenance, will ensure that we reliably meet our customer commitments,” commented EFW chief executive officer Jordi Boto.
Turkish Technic chief executive officer Ahmet Bolat added that “passenger-to-freighter conversions require a combination of industry-specific expertise, structural capabilities and operational excellence.” He’s excited about the prospects the growing segment presents for aircraft manufacturers, MROs, airlines and leasing firms.
Capacities and expertise
EFW’s A330P2F programme has been developed in collaboration with both ST Engineering as well as with Airbus. It offers two options, namely an A330-200P2F and an A330-300P2F. The 200P2F can carry a gross payload of up to 61 t over approximately 7,200 km, whilst the 300P2F version can carry about 63 t over approximately 6,700 km.
Turkish Technic operates from three sites, all of them located in Istanbul. The corporation’s approximately 9,500 employees carry out the full range of maintenance, repair, overhaul and modification services the users of P2F units need.