newstodate.aero
Jan 30, 2015 (newstodate): Airbus is again mulling plans for a fresh launch of its postponed freighter conversion program for the Airbus A320 aircraft.
Already before Christmas, newstodate reported that EFW, an Airbus subsidiary in Germany, would shortly announce the launch of the program, ostensibly with a first customers.
Since then, silence has reigned. Maybe for good reasons..
-I seriously doubt if the converted Airbus A320 will have a future with European operators, at least, says Russell Ladkin, Director, Sales & Operations at West Atlantic, the project launch operator when Airbus first presented the concept of Airbus A320 P2F in April 2007 - a project abruptly shelved again in June 2011.
-When Airbus first launched the concept it was indeed very attractive as an alternative to the Boeing 737-300 option. Since then, things have changed.
-First of all, the residual value of the Boeing 737-300 has declined even further, and the Boeing 737-400 has become an even more attractive option with larger payload and range, albeit short in supply these days.
-Next, the current very low fuel prices make the Boeing 737 options even more attractive, compensating for the larger fuel burn, compared to the Airbus A320.
-Thirdly, the residual value of the Airbus A320 still makes it a rather costly investment. After all, freighters in European traffic operate only few hours per day on the shorter routes which will make the capital cost burden weigh heavily on freighter operations by an Airbus A320, compared to the comparatively much cheaper Boeing 737.
-The converted Airbus A320 would still be a wonderful aircraft, but if the project actually is to take off it will most probably be with operators in regions like Asia where routes are longer and volumes soaring, generating longer flying hours and a larger rate of utilization of the capacity, says Mr Ladkin.
Already before Christmas, newstodate reported that EFW, an Airbus subsidiary in Germany, would shortly announce the launch of the program, ostensibly with a first customers.
Since then, silence has reigned. Maybe for good reasons..
-I seriously doubt if the converted Airbus A320 will have a future with European operators, at least, says Russell Ladkin, Director, Sales & Operations at West Atlantic, the project launch operator when Airbus first presented the concept of Airbus A320 P2F in April 2007 - a project abruptly shelved again in June 2011.
-When Airbus first launched the concept it was indeed very attractive as an alternative to the Boeing 737-300 option. Since then, things have changed.
-First of all, the residual value of the Boeing 737-300 has declined even further, and the Boeing 737-400 has become an even more attractive option with larger payload and range, albeit short in supply these days.
-Next, the current very low fuel prices make the Boeing 737 options even more attractive, compensating for the larger fuel burn, compared to the Airbus A320.
-Thirdly, the residual value of the Airbus A320 still makes it a rather costly investment. After all, freighters in European traffic operate only few hours per day on the shorter routes which will make the capital cost burden weigh heavily on freighter operations by an Airbus A320, compared to the comparatively much cheaper Boeing 737.
-The converted Airbus A320 would still be a wonderful aircraft, but if the project actually is to take off it will most probably be with operators in regions like Asia where routes are longer and volumes soaring, generating longer flying hours and a larger rate of utilization of the capacity, says Mr Ladkin.