A little-known French airfield is becoming a hub for the accelerated transformation of Airbus SE passenger jets into shipping ships amid growing demand for air shipments brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Vallair, a specialist in aircraft maintenance and scrapping, begins in Châteauroux (CHR), 250 kilometers south of Paris, the modification of its first A330-300 aircraft according to a plan that lasts a month and costs a quarter of the value of a complete conversion from passenger to cargo.
The Luxembourg-based Vallair technique is to remove seats and cabin aircraft from the wide-body aircraft without the expensive installation of a giant shipping hatch, depending on existing passenger doors. Instead of loading them onto popular pallets or containers, shipments that have the length of a package are secured through a conveyor belt that fits inside the warehouse of the shipment.
The air freight sector recorded its volumes over the past two years, even as the COVID-19 pandemic shook the passenger market, helped through a buildup in online grocery shopping and the dislocation of classic origin chains. The $350 million for the newer models is rare, while the wait time for the fully changed A330s, which cost up to $20 million, can be five years, adding up to more than six months of engineering work.
“We’re sailing right now,” Vallair’s chief executive, Grégoire Lebigot, said in an interview on a recent stopover on the site. “The demand is very strong. “
A changed A330 from the company has a payload of around 60 tonnes and is expected to charge less than $5 million, according to estimates by aviation company IBA Group Ltd. In addition, the adjustments are reversible, allowing carriers to repair seats on the spot. of a shipment explosion. disappear. La approval of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency is expected soon and only requires an additional type certification, given the relative simplicity of the work.
Competitors in the full conversion market come with EFW, in which Airbus has a stake. The Dresden, Germany-based company is taking up to 8 months to rebuild an A330 with a thirteen-foot 10-foot door and two shipping bridges capable of accommodating all types of shipping.
Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. , which long changed Boeing aircraft, is also the sector with a contract to modify 30 A330s for leasing company Avolon Holdings Ltd. between 2025 and 2028.
Vallair has been in conversion of Airbus A321 and Boeing 737 narrow-body for about a decade in the United States, China and Singapore. year, Lebigot said.
The paintings will be placed in a gigantic new hangar at Châteauroux Airport, a former single-runway NATO base surrounded by farmland, designed to be giant enough to buy A380 superjumbos.
IBA President Phil Seymour said that with the A330 passenger jet market “relatively weak” as styling is replaced by newer aircraft and long-haul flights are slowly recovering from the pandemic, converting the aircraft is “a smart budget option”.
Vallair’s technique is in terms of time and cost, he said, by omitting a giant door, it inevitably excludes the transportation of parts such as cars and heavy machinery. called, are more suitable for the delivery of explicit packages, loading times in the absence of pallets can be a problem.
Supply chain logistical constraints that have noticed the accumulation of boxes at ports are expected to continue to drive air shipping activity next year and most likely through 2024, said Pascal Fabre, managing director of AlixPartners in Paris.
Container lines inflated through record shipping gains are even dabbling in air freight as an additional source of profit and a faster option for ships. CMA CGM is establishing its own shipping fleet in partnership with Air France-KLM, while MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. is leading a bid for new Italian airline Italia Trasporto Aereo with Germany’s Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
© 2022 Real Media
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