To keep up with a soaring demand of the cargo plane, the American plane maker-Boeing Co. seeks partnerships with specialists including Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. and Mammoth Freighters to carry out P2F conversions (Passenger to cargo or freighter).
Not wanting to plan the program on its own, Boeing will follow an asset-light model for freighter conversion programs said, Ted Colbert, president, and chief executive of Boeing Global Services.
The soaring online purchases and shipping rates made air freight a rare bright spot in the global aviation segment. With airlines looking to retire older aircraft and replace them with newer, more fuel-efficient models, freighter conversions could give older aircraft a new lease of life.
Boeing has forecast demand for 2,610 wide-body freighters by 2040, with 1,720 of them being conversions from older passenger aircraft and the rest new production. Currently, the company builds a freighter version of the 777 from new, that model is based on the smaller 777-200 model.
Earlier this year, IAI said it had begun work on the conversion of its first 777-300ER.
