Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) has received Supplemental Type Certification (STC) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for its A321 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion.

The STC comes one month after the prototype unit, to be redelivered to launch customer Vallair, made its maiden flight test on 22 January.

“EFW is the centre of excellence for Airbus freighter conversions, with more than 20 years of experience and over 200 widebody converted freighters delivered to over 40 customers worldwide,” said CEO of EFW Andreas Sperl.

“We are glad to now add an additional member to our Airbus freighter family with the A321P2F, which complements our A330P2F as another best-in-class volumetric freighter.

“The A321P2F offers other unique advantages such as having the lowest operational cost and fully containerised upper and lower deck, making it an ideal replacement for the ageing Boeing 757 converted freighter.”

Development phase

The programme, launched in 2015, is the result of a collaboration between ST Engineering, Airbus and EFW. ST Engineering is responsible for the engineering development phase, up to obtaining the STC from EASA and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Airbus contributes to the programme with Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) data and certification support, on board computers development, airframe engineering, flight-physics and flight-testing expertise. This is the exclusive A321P2F programme whereby Airbus contributes with OEM data and certification support.

As the STC holder EFW is responsible for customer support services as well as the adaption engineering in the serial phase. Within the setup of the joint venture EFW is furthermore taking care of the overall programme management, marketing and sales and the subcontracting of conversions to the lines in Singapore, China, the U.S. and Germany.

The A321P2F is seen as an ideal replacement for the older generation of narrowbody freighters. The first delivery is expected this year to Qantas Freight.

Find out more about Elbe Flugzeugwerke.