SINGAPORE—Chinese MRO provider Haite Group will begin work on Airbus A321 Passenger to Freighter (A321P2F) conversions in China later this year after signing an agreement with Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW).
Once operational, Haite will become the first third-party conversion house for EFW’s A321P2F program, adding to the three operational conversion sites at San Antonio, Singapore and Guangzhou, China, all run by ST Engineering; the majority shareholder in EFW. All of ST Engineering’s conversion slots for the program are booked up through to 2025.
Haite’s conversion work will be carried out in Tianjin, China, an aerospace hub that is home to Airbus’ only final assembly line (FAL) in Asia. The Chinese company will start with one conversion line and expects to induct its first A321 for conversion during the third quarter of 2023. Haite already carries out Boeing 737NG conversions in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) subsidiary Bedek Aviation Group.
While Haite is the first external partner for the A321P2F program, this is not EFW’s first third-party agreement. The group has similar arrangements on its A330P2F conversion program with Turkish Technic and Chengdu, China-based Ameco.
The Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database shows there is plenty of potential feedstock in China for the A321P2F program with 322 A321ceos in the country.
The A321P2F program is an EFW product jointly developed by its shareholders Airbus and ST Engineering.
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