PacAvi to convert A320s, A321s to freighters

PacAvi Group of San Diego will start a new program to convert Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 passenger planes to freighters.

   PacAvi Group of San Diego will start a new program to convert Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 passenger planes to freighters.  
   “There are currently about 600 freighters of the size category of the A320 and A321 operating globally, and this market is set to grow rapidly in the BRIC countries and around the world,” said Stephen Hollmann, PacAvi’s chief executive officer, in a statement. “Right now the only products of similar capacity are from Boeing.”
   PacAvi Group will be joined in this program by AeroTurbine, a subsidiary of AerCap, one of the world’s largest aircraft leasing companies. AeroTurbine will perform freighter conversions at its Goodyear, Ariz., facility, where it currently conducts passenger-to-freighter conversions for other planes. 
   “AeroTurbine, as a whole, has more than tripled in size in recent years, and converting A320s and A321s expands our product offerings considerably,” said Gary Failler, chief operating officer at AeroTurbine.  
   Commercial deliveries of the converted Airbus planes will begin in 2017 or earlier, PacAvi said.
   Airbus ended its program for A320 and A321 freighter conversions several years ago to focus on new aircraft manufacturing.