Airbus, ST Aerospace and EADS EFW have signed an MoU for a strategic partnership to develop the A330 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversion program. The agreement, setting out the project’s foundation and granting Authorization To Offer1 for the A330P2F, was signed by Chang Cheow Teck, president of ST Aerospace; Tom Enders, president and CEO of Airbus and Andreas Sperl, CEO of EADS EFW; in the presence of Stanislaw Tillich, Prime Minister of German’s Federal State of Saxony.
For the project, ST Aerospace will lead the A330P2F engineering development, working with Airbus and EADS EFW who will subsequently be responsible as program lead during the industrial phase, and will undertake most of the conversions at its facilities in Dresden, Germany. Under the agreement it is planned that EADS EFW will become the European center for ST Aerospace’s global maintenance, repair and overhaul operations. The project is subject to the definitive agreements being finalized in the coming weeks and also to regulatory clearances.
The A330P2F program includes two versions – the A330-200P2F and the larger A330-300P2F. Of the two models, the larger A330-300P2F will be particularly suitable for integrators and express carriers thanks to its high volumetric payload capability with lower-density cargo. Complementing this will be the A330-200P2F which will be optimized for higher-density freight and longer range performance. Entry-into-service for the first A330-300P2F is targeted for 2016.
“Aircraft conversion is one of the most complex modifications which demands precision and engineering finesse. We are thrilled to partner industry experts Airbus and EADS EFW for this new A330P2F conversion program,” Chang Cheow Teck, president of ST Aerospace says. “We are looking forward to leveraging our engineering design experience, to provide value added solutions to the aircraft operators.”