PACAVI Group chief executive Stephan Hollmann reported on the progress of the company’s first-to-market Airbus A320/A321 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion programme today, confirming first orders for the PACAVI Freighter LITE.

Customers include Colt Aviation/Colt Cargo, Norwegian company Airline Management AS, and two more companies that cannot be revealed yet. An additional launch order has been issued by an undisclosed leasing customer.

Brazil-based Colt has ordered two converted A321 freighters with an option for an additional one; Airline Management AS will acquire six A320 freighters.

“It’s the kind of companies like Colt Cargo that our turnkey packages of airframe sourcing, purchase, customized conversion, and leasing or sale are tailored for. The small to medium sized operator market is huge, and we have just the right product for these customers,” says Hollmann.

Alex Eckmann, CEO of Colt Aviation, adds: “The PACAVI A321 freighters are the perfect addition to our fleet of Boeing 737-400 and 757-200 freighters; with the perfect range and payload, state of the art fly-by-wire technology and low operating costs. They will be excellent workhorses and contribute greatly to our innovative, high-performance logistics concept.”

The PACAVI Airbus A321 Freighter LITE will carry approximately 27 tonnes of cargo, flying routes of up to 3,500 nautical miles, depending on load weight.

The Freighter LITE conversion includes a new 140-inch main deck cargo door, a Class E cargo interior, a 9G barrier and a manual cargo loading system.  A typical configuration would accommodate up to 13 88-inch x 125-inch x 82-inch unit load devices (ULDs) or pallets and one smaller container or 88-inch x 61.5-inch pallet, resulting in a main deck container volume of about 5,044 cubic feet and an additional lower deck cargo volume of 1,828 cubic feet.

The PACAVI Group specialises in sales and leasing of aircraft, STC programme management, aircraft conversion engineering and related activities.  Its principal offices are in San Diego (California) and Bremen (Germany).