China Aircraft Leasing Group (CALC) has signed a contract with Aeronautical Engineers, Inc. (AEI) for its first Boeing 737-800SF freighter conversion.

Modifications of the aircraft will start at the end of July and redelivery to CALC is expected in October 2022. CALC specializes in the leasing of mature assets, with additional services such as fleet planning, fleet upgrade, aircraft disassembling and recycling along with component sales.

AEI has conversion capabilities across 737-300, -400 and -800 aircraft types, with the company holding ETOPS 180 approval on the -800. It also holds capability for MD-80 series and CRJ200 aircraft.

Mike Poon, CEO of CALC, says the independent lessor foresees more PTF services being required by the market as demand increases, partially driven by the boom in e-commerce. 

“We shall develop this freighter business further as it enables us to exploit in full the utility of our aircraft assets to serve the escalating demand for cargo capacities globally and meet operators’ needs via a prevalent freighter aircraft model while contributing to a greener and sustainable aviation industry,” he says.