Modification specialist ST Engineering has redelivered an A321 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion to US-based aircraft lessor BBAM Limited Partnership (BBAM).

The aircraft lessor had announced the order during the Paris Airshow 2019, following a launch contract in 2018. Conversion work was carried out by ST Engineering, Airbus and Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW).

The delivery represents BBAM’s first converted freighter, which will be leased to UK charter operator Titan Airways. Titan committed to three of the aircraft, Payload Asia learned, with the second unit scheduled to be delivered later in January.

Also read: A321 freighter conversions to start in China

The A321 freighter conversion is the first in its size category to offer containerised loading in both the main and lower decks and offers payload of over 28 metric tonnes. This comes with optimised weight distribution to enable empty flights and random loading, which provides options for express operators.

“ST Engineering, Airbus and EFW’s A321P2F programme delivers strongly in the areas of innovativeness and value enhancement,” said Steve Zissis, president and CEO of BBAM.

“We are pleased to partner with them and our customer, Titan Airways on a solution that fully meets our customer’s requirements and drives value for our investors,” he added.

The A321P2F programme, launched in 2015, is a collaboration between ST Engineering, Airbus and their joint venture EFW.

Under the programme, ST Engineering handles the engineering development phase up to obtaining the supplemental type certificate (STC) issuance and the conversion kit supply.

Airbus, as original equipment manufacturer (OEM), provides technical data and certification support, whilst EFW leads the overall programme and commercialisation.

EFW’s first A321 converted freighter entered service with Qantas for Australia Post in October last year. The aircraft was redelivered by EFW to lessor Vallair in September.

ST Engineering, along with EFW, plans to set up additional conversion sites in China, the US and Germany to ramp up its conversion capacity to 25 slots per year by 2023.