The global transport crisis that has developed in the last two years has led to a sharp increase in the trend of converting passenger aircraft to cargo. The aerospace industry has surpassed this wave, and is now announcing the delivery of the 100th aircraft (model B767-300) which has been converted from a passenger to cargo configuration, thus becoming a world leader in conversions to this model and holding a 70% market share.
The B767-300 conversion line began operating in the aerospace industry in 2007, in partnership with the Japanese company Mitsui under the name M&B Conversions. In light of the global increase in demand for converted aircraft and online commerce, in 2017 the company opened another line of aircraft conversions in Mexico for the same model. IAI’s revenue from this industry is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
IAI says that last year there was a 30% increase in demand for converted aircraft compared to 2020. The high demand for converted cargo aircraft is due to the difference in cost between a converted aircraft and a new cargo plane. While a cargo converted cargo costs less than $ 20 million, the price of a plane A new cargo can also cost five times as much, and when you add to that the drop in demand for passenger planes due to the corona plague – the trend is clear.
In addition to converting B767-300 aircraft, IAI operates conversion lines around the world for a variety of models, and expands its activities to increase power in light of the growth in the number of orders from customers. Last year, IAI announced its intention to open cargo configuration conversion lines for B777-300 aircraft in Ethiopia, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and China, in partnership with companies from these countries.
IAI CEO Boaz Levy says it is a significant milestone for IAI that is proving to be at the forefront of global aviation industry.