GAMECO completes first 737-800BCF conversion

GAMECO today announced the completion of the first 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) at GAMECO’s Guangzhou facility.

The conversion was completed on Oct. 15, several days ahead of schedule, and comes roughly four months after GAMECO launched its BCF conversion program in June.

“We are proud of our team for achieving another important milestone. Despite the challenges caused by the global pandemic, we were able to fulfill our promises and redeliver the conversion product faster than anticipated and with the highest quality,” said GAMECO General Manager Norbert Marx. “We will now take the lessons learned from this conversion and apply them to our overall process to ensure we continually meet the quality and reliability standards that our partner Boeing expects.”

With an increase in e-commerce and express cargo driving higher demand for freighters, Boeing is taking steps to increase capacity at its freighter conversion lines to meet customer needs. In September, GAMECO and Boeing announced they would open a second 737-800BCF conversion line at GAMECO’s Guangzhou facility.

“Successfully completing the first 737-800BCF conversion ahead of schedule, under difficult circumstances, showcases the high level of quality and support GAMECO brings to this important program,” said Peter Gao, vice president, Commercial Sales and Marketing for China, The Boeing Company. “We are committed to continue strengthening our partnership with GAMECO to help deliver this valuable product and service to our customers.”

The 737-800BCF program was launched in 2016. Since first entering into service in 2018, Boeing has delivered 40 737-800BCF, which are operated by 10 customers.

The 737-800BCF is built on the Next-Generation 737, well known for its reliability and efficiency. GAMECO’s freighter-conversion program transitions these passenger airplanes into freighters, extending their service life. Once converted, the 737-800BCF carries up to 52,800 pounds (23.9 metric tons) of payload with excellent operating economics to maximize operators’ profits.

According to the recently updated Boeing Commercial Market Outlook, 2,430 new and converted freighters will be needed in the next 20 years to meet market demand, including 1,080 standard-body passenger-to-freighter conversions.