The company will continue to acquire and convert 767s, diversify its freighter leasing offerings
Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM), the leasing arm of Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), has secured twenty A330 conversion slots with Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) as it turns to the future and follows “the natural progression of growth.”
ATSG has said that the A330 slots will run from around mid-2023 through the end of 2025, with the majority likely to be at EFW’s facility in Dresden (DRS). In the meantime, ATSG, which still holds thirty-two more conversion slots with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), said the 767 will remain its primary mid-size freighter. CAM will continue to acquire aircraft to fulfill those slots and may even consider more beyond that, depending on the market.
While CAM’s 767 portfolio is largely North America-heavy, the company expects the A330 to open up new streams of customer interest and demand internationally. ATSG said that looking at the next five years or so, it was important to make a move to capitalize on market conditions and trends. CAM is still “heavily committed” to the 767 platforms and feedstock will still be available in the next several years, but the A330 platform represents the natural course of expansion and will complement the A321 platform, for which CAM will induct its first aircraft (1972, ex-Thomas Cook Airlines) this November at the PEMCO facility in Tampa (TPA).
With EFW’s next available slots stretching into 2025 and beyond, ATSG said that, as the market leader, it wanted to secure those slots. ATSG told Cargo Facts that it intends to focus on the A330-300 and sees good feedstock between twelve to twenty years old, but may consider the A330-200 if there is specific customer demand for it. ATSG has not made a firm decision on engine type yet, it said.
Meanwhile, CAM’s two latest 767-300BDSF conversions (29606, ex-American Airlines, and 27449, ex-Omni Air) will soon join DHL’s U.K. fleet and Amerijet, respectively. CAM expects to place nine 767-300Fs on lease in the second half of 2021, and at least ten more in 2022, ATSG said in its second-quarter results.
