Liebherr enters air cargo market

Liebherr-Aerospace Saline and LHColus announce the signature of a Sole Distribution Agreement for LHColus’ quick conversion passenger to freighter cargo solution. With this agreement, Liebherr- Aerospace Saline, Inc., Liebherr’s dedicated aftermarket aerospace center for the Americas, becomes the exclusive international distributor of the cargo conversion kit developed by the Brazilian company LHColus, provider of aeronautical engineering consulting services. 

Saline, Michigan (USA), April 2024 – Liebherr Aerospace Saline Inc., Michigan (USA) and LHColus Tecnologia Ltda., based in São José dos Campos (Brazil), have recently signed an agreement that declares Liebherr-Aerospace Saline as the exclusive international distributor of the quick conversion passenger to freighter cargo aircraft solution – also known as Class F Quick Change - developed and certified by LHColus. Liebherr will be responsible for the global distribution (excluding Brazil) through its worldwide customer services network, that shall provide sales and technical support.

“We are excited about our entry into the booming air cargo market and the possibility to bring to our customers such an easy, fully reversible and cost-effective solution”, commented Mr. Alex Vlielander, Chief Customer Officer of Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS

“We are very happy about this agreement with Liebherr, a leading global OEM that has shown keen interest in our cargo conversion kit, contemplating its distribution worldwide as well as looking forward to developing this project for other aircraft models like the Airbus A320 and Boeing’s 737. This partnership will surely enhance our market reach and enable us to offer cost-effective cargo conversion solutions on a global scale.”, explained Mr. Luís Henrique Colus, LHColus Executive Director.

Mr. Flávio Costa, Technical Vice-President of Azul added: “We are the first company in the world to have installed this system. In our fleet, we have converted five Embraer E-Jets E1 with the Class F Quick Change Solution, and we are very excited about the agility and versatility that this change has given us. It is a constant improvement that allows us to serve our customers better.”

The Class F Quick Change Solution

The Class F Quick Change is implemented by the means of a simple, fast, and fully reversible modification on the aircraft. Its efficiency and reliability have been field proven with a sizeable fleet operating for over 2 years in Latin America that has already accumulated more than 18 thousand flight hours and transported over 15.3 million (e-commerce) packages equivalent to 33.3 thousand tons of payload. The solution is currently certified for Embraer E190 aircraft but can be extended to other single aisle aircraft types.

In a simplified approach, the conversion requires the removal of all main cabin seats to make room for aluminum frames and independent fire-proof and smoke-contained cargo nets. The cargo is monitored by 2 fully independent IR cameras, which are designed to detect any heat sources, alerting the pilots in the cockpit. The system also features a smoke barrier to isolate the main cabin from the front galley/cockpit area (a mandatory requirement) and cargo placards, which are used to indicate the maximum load height.