ST Aerospace and EADS EFW team up for Airbus A330P2F conversion program

 Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aerospace) and EADS EFW have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a strategic partnership to develop the Airbus A330 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion program. The MOU was signed at the Singapore Airshow Wednesday.

The aerospace arm of ST Engineering is the longstanding partner of Boeing in its P2F program.

ST Aerospace president Chang Cheow Teck said the company was “looking forward to leveraging our engineering design experience, to provide value added solutions to the aircraft operators.”

For EADS EFW president and CEO Andreas Sperl, the strategic partnership with ST Aerospace is “the right step at the right time. Together with Airbus we will develop an outstanding A330 freighter conversion, which will add another chapter to our successful Airbus-P2F program.”

The agreement grants “authorization to offer” of the P2F products and services of the A330-300 and -200 to potential customers. The finalization of contracts is subject to program launch and to regulatory clearances. Sperl toldATW he expects the program to effectively launch in the second half of this year. He sees a “minimum” demand of 15 to 18 A330P2F conversions per year.

Under terms of the agreement, ST Aerospace will lead the A330P2F engineering development phase while EADS EFW will be responsible as program lead during the industrial phase and for sales and marketing. Most of the conversions will take place at EADS EFW’s facilities in Dresden, Germany, and EADS EFW will become the European center for ST Aerospace’s global maintenance, repair and overhaul operations.

The A330P2F program includes two versions—the A330-200P2F and the larger A330-300P2F. Entry into service for the first A330-300P2F is targeted for 2016, with the first -200P2F to follow one year later, according to Sperl.

Article Source : ATW Daily News