Luxembourg, April 24th, 2018: Vallair, the aircraft trading, leasing and specialist MRO organisation, has completed the acquisition of six A321-200 aircraft (MSN891, MSN677, MSN827, MSN835, MSN968 and MSN974). These aircraft will be attributed to short term lease programs within Vallair’s current portfolio and will serve as initial feedstock for the Company’s launch of the Airbus A321-200 P2F program.

Vallair was recently announced as the launch customer of the A321-200 P2F with EFW/STA cargo program in addition to an earlier launch announcement with A321 Precision in October 2017.

The A321 & A320 P2F conversion programs, launched in 2015, are a collaboration between ST Aerospace, Airbus and EFW. ST Aerospace is responsible for the engineering development phase, up to the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Airbus contributes to the program with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) data and certification support, while EFW leads the overall program and marketing & sales.

Peter Koster, Head of Vallair’s Cargo Conversions Business Unit, comments: “The A321 P2F conversion program is the first in its size category to offer containerized loading in both the main deck (up to 14 container positions) and lower deck (up to 10 container positions). With a generous payload-range capability that can carry up to 27.9 metric tons over 2,300 nautical miles, the A321 P2F is the ideal narrow-body freighter aircraft for express domestic and regional operations.

“This recent transaction secures sufficient feedstock for the initial conversion program, and enhances our developing portfolio of assets available on lease. Vallair expects the prototypes of both programs to obtain their initial STC approval by end 2019 ready to enter operation early 2020.”