ST Engineering signed a leasing agreement for up to five Airbus A320 Passenger-to-Freighter (P2F) aircraft with Astral Aviation, a cargo airline based in Nairobi, Kenya. The African airline will become the first operator of the A320P2F worldwide.
Therefore, the first unit, which is being converted by ST Engineering, is expected to be delivered in the second quarter. Those remaining four should be added progressively.
Yip Hin Meng, head of aeronautical asset management at ST Engineering, said, “We are proud that Astral Aviation will be the first airline in the world to operate this platform. We hope this model will help give them a competitive advantage.
Read more: The first Airbus A320 freighter is photographed in Singapore
Astral Aviation CEO Sanjeev Gadhia said, “It is an honor to be the launch operator for the A320P2F. This product will add immense value to Astral’s fleet and network expansion.”
The A320P2F is one of two variants. The other being the A321P2F – of Airbus’ P2F program, carried out in partnership with ST Engineering and Elbe Flugzeugwerke. Because the conversion enables the use of the cabin as cargo space and retains the lower holds, the economical transfer of low-density volumetric cargo, such as e-commerce shipments, is made possible.
