Regional aircraft leasing company Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) and Akkodis have signed an agreement for five freighter conversion kits for the ATR 72-600, with the first deliveries starting from as early as Q1 2023. The aircraft for conversion will come from NAC’s existing ATR fleet. The ATR 72-600 conversion kits have the flexibility to be converted back to ATR 72-500 conversion kits and thus are suitable for application across NAC’s entire fleet of ATR 72s.
Akkodis holds an STC (Supplemental Type Certificate) for cargo conversion on ATR legacy aircraft, with more than 70 converted aircraft flying around the world, each offering 75.5 m³ of cargo volume and carrying over eight tonnes of freight. The integration of the freighter modification onto the ATR-600’s new avionic suite (NAS) presented a challenge. Nevertheless, Akkodis engineering experts identified a solution to enable them to extend the certification to the next generation of ATR aircraft.