Singapore-based Transcend Aero Services has placed an order with Aeronautical Engineers (AEI) for two 737-800SF freighter conversions.

The agreement represents the first freighter conversion order Transcend has placed with AEI.

The first 737-800 aircraft (MSN 35217) is commencing modification this month, with conversion related touch labour to be carried out by Commercial Jet, an authorised AEI conversion centre based in Dothan, Alabama, US.

The second 737-800 will commence modification in March 2023, and will be modified at Commercial Jet’s Miami, Florida, US facility.

“We are pleased that Transcend has chosen the AEI 737-800SF freighter conversion over both our competitors’, and welcome them to the AEI family,” stated AEI’s senior vice president of sales and marketing Robert T. Convey.

The AEI-converted 737-800SF freighter offers a main deck payload of up to 52,700 lbs (23,904 kg) and incorporates eleven full height 88” x 125” container positions, plus an additional position for an AEP/AEH. The conversion also incorporates new floor beams aft of the wing box, an 86” x 137” main cargo door with a single vent door system.

Containers can be loaded into the aircraft a full 16.5” aft of the forward door jamb, ensuring ground operators have sufficient manoeuvring room, which the company said minimised potential door and aircraft strikes.

Additionally, the AEI 737-800SF includes a flexible Ancra cargo loading system, a rigid 9g barrier, five supernumerary seats as standard, a galley, and full lavatory.