Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) is a German centre of excellence for aircraft maintenance and Airbus freighter conversions. The company has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with China’s Sichuan Haite Hi-Tech (Haite), a publicly listed aircraft solutions provider, to collaborate on Airbus Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) conversions.
Under the terms of the partnership, Haite will be responsible for carrying out P2F conversions for EFW’s A321P2F programme at Haite’s facility in Tianjin, China. This will be the first third-party conversion house for EFW’s A321P2F programme, and Haite will commence proceedings with one conversion line and induct the first A321 aircraft for conversion in the third quarter of 2023. This will bring to four the number of global conversion sites EFW has for its A321P2F programme, namely San Antonio, U.S., Singapore, and Guangzhou and Tianjin, China.
“We are pleased to gain a renowned partner in China through our latest collaboration with Haite, which is well experienced in freighter conversions,” said Jordi Boto, CEO of EFW. “This new partnership will greatly support our strategy to expand the global network for our narrowbody P2F programme. It will also further strengthen our presence in China, which is one of the largest and fastest growing aviation markets in the world.”
EFW’s family of Airbus P2F programmes – A320P2F, A321P2F and A330P2F – are developed in collaboration with ST Engineering and Airbus, with EFW holding the Supplemental Type Certificate and leading in the overall programmes. ST Engineering is a global technology, defence, and engineering group with a diverse portfolio of businesses across the aerospace, smart city, defence, and public security segments.
