ST Engineering’s Commercial Aerospace business has signed an agreement to lease up to five Airbus A320 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) aircraft to Vaayu Group (Vaayu). Astral Aviation, one of the fastest-growing all-cargo airlines based in Nairobi, Kenya, will be the launch operator for the first two of the five A320P2F aircraft by sub-leasing them from Vaayu.
The first A320P2F, which is being converted by ST Engineering, is expected to be placed on lease in 2Q 2022. This will also be the world’s first A320P2F aircraft to go into operation. ST Engineering will convert and lease the remaining four freighter aircraft progressively.
The A320P2F is one of the two variants – the other being the A321P2F – in the Airbus narrow-body P2F programme by ST Engineering, Airbus and their joint venture Elbe Flugzeugwerke. The A320/A321P2F conversion programmes are the first in its size category with easy-to-operate volumetric usability that offers both main deck and lower deck containerised loading. Coupled with the fact that the family of A320/A321 aircraft has modern fly-by-wire technology and advanced performance, the A320/A321P2F are ideal solutions for express domestic and regional operations
