Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), a joint venture of Singapore-based ST Engineering and Airbus, announced that its newest product, the Airbus A321 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) converted aircraft received supplemental type certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The first prototype Airbus A321P2F took off on its maiden flight on January 22, 2020, departing and arriving back in Seletar Airport (XSP) in Singapore. The aircraft, registered D-ANJA, completed several trial flights throughout January and February 2020.
Previously, the aircraft belonged to Onur Air. In November 2018, it was withdrawn from use and ferried to Singapore to undergo the conversion to a freighter aircraft.
Elbe Flugzeugwerke expects to deliver the converted freighter to Vallair, a Luxembourg-based asset manager, in Q2 2020. The latter company, in turn, would deliver the A321P2F to Qantas Freight, a subsidiary of the Australia-based Qantas Group.
While the converted freighter will offer cargo operators the chance to renew their aging narrow-body freighter fleets with younger aircraft, the A321P2F also introduces the feature to load both the main deck and the lower deck into the narrow-body freighter segment.
There’s a second lifetime for #A321s as highly efficient freighter aircraft! After completing airline service carrying passengers, they can be converted through our #A321P2F programme, which also involves #STEngineering & our #ElbeFlugzeugwerke joint venture. pic.twitter.com/0xi1TpsGoI
— Airbus (@Airbus) February 12, 2020