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Passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion specialist Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) reports growing demand from customers for cargo aircraft, despite diminishing interest in the single-aisle freighter market.
“The P2F market is more divided into two main sections,” Yaacov Berkovitz, IAI’s aviation group EVP and general manager, told Aviation Week Oct. 8. “When you look at the narrowbody, there was a hyper demand in the [pandemic] time; there was an overshoot of converting P2F for the narrowbody at that time,” Berkovitz said, noting that the market for narrowbody P2Fs has become very soft.
“But when you go to the midsize aircraft, 55, 60 tons and above, the demand is growing between three and four percent a year. It is strengthening,” he said.
As the holder of a number of supplemental type certificates for P2F conversions, IAI holds a leading position in the used freighter business.
On Sept. 4, IAI’s first Airbus A330-300BDSF converted freighter took off. “Regarding the A330, we decided to convert the -300, entering a competitive market that already existed,” he said, nodding to EFW’s established A330P2F program.
“I believe the A330-300 will help the lessors and airlines to have more revenue from that aircraft,” Berkovitz said. As every user of an aircraft has its own opinion, IAI tries to combine all the needs and wishes of its clients. To help generate more operational revenue, one factor is a short turnaround time for the A330-300 freighter. IAI has been able to reduce it from two and a half hours down to only one hour.
Berkovitz said that there is a pool of around 800 A330-300s that are expected to become available in the future for conversion, while some 300 will be available for the Boeing 777-300ER P2F program.
In 2025, IAI announced that the FAA and the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) had approved the 100-ton-payload 777-300ERSF conversion program. “We put already 12 [777-300ERSFs] into the market. They already accumulated more than 35,000 hours,” Berkovitz said.
Asked how long it is taking to convert a passenger 777-300ER into a freighter, he said the time is coming down. “As we gain progress and learning curve, we are aiming for five months. That means [the customer] has an aircraft after five months that is making revenue,” Berkovitz said. He said that the relatively quick turnaround time is key for the customer. “If you are ordering new ones, you have to stay in line and wait for years. That is the calculation,” he added.
Putting these aircraft into the market also demonstrates the appetite for widebody cargo aircraft. “It is increasing, we are seeing customers waiting for the 777 conversations, they understand the merits,” he said.
AerCap was the launch customer for IAI’s 777 conversion, and the first aircraft was placed with U.S. cargo carrier Kalitta Air.
“When we convert an aircraft, we need to have the basis to do the full maintenance checks of this aircraft. It is like a one-stop shop for the customers which are coming for converting,” Berkovitz added. “We are seeing that we have already orders for more than 100 aircraft, I believe we are well positioned in the market.”
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