BAE Systems has expanded its ATP freighter capability through an agreement with British European Services for the design of E-Class freighter interiors. The only other company that has designed an ATP cargo interior and is currently converting the 70-passenger turboprop into an 8-ton freighter is West Air Sweden, which is converting them for its own cargo operations (C/R News, Aug. 5, 2002). That airline has converted eight ATPs into freighters to date and is currently working on two more. The completed aircraft have been put into service either with the main company or one of its sister companies, West Air Luxembourg and West Air France. West Air Sweden said that it soon expects to get contracts that will require an additional two ATPs for conversion into the large freight door version.

The new British European conversion will differ in several respects from the West Air Sweden conversion, giving future cargo operators a second option for interior configurations, a spokesman said. An E-class cargo interior is designed for bulk loading with the cargo restrained throughout the cabin by nets, at least one of which must be capable of restraining 9Gs of force. BAE Systems has purchased the design from British European Services, who will retain the airworthiness certificate.

The design is now 60 percent completed, and will incorporate a forward 9G net as well as 3G vertical nets along the sides of the fuselage. The 3G nets can be moved as needed, allowing the zoning of freight to be altered to suit different loads. The 9G net can also be used in a large freighter door ATP in conjunction with unit load devices (ULDs) such as the LD3 containers. The ATP can hold either seven or eight LD3 containers, depending on the conversion.

No customer has yet committed to the purchase of the new ATP freighter, although David Dorman, BAE Systems spokesman, told C/R News that the ATP is principally seen as a replacement for earlier five ton to six ton turboprops such as the BAe 748, Fokker F27s, YS-11s, Dash 7s "and even some aging Convair 580s." These older aircraft are becoming more expensive to operate, especially regarding maintenance, and are increasingly running afoul of the more stringent noise regulations, particularly in Europe. There are around 250 of those type aircraft in service worldwide.

Dorman said that the ATP will also give a measure of growth opportunity for operators of those five to six ton aircraft, "probably not so much of an issue at the moment as there is not much growth around in the market, but it will become a bigger issue in time." Market surveys have shown that the total market for an eight-ton freighter is expected to be around 90 aircraft over the next ten years, with the ATPs primary competitor being the ATR 42 and 72. Of 62 ATPs built, there are about 58 that will become available over time. BAE Systems' asset management group has 40 ATPs in its portfolio, of which 24 are available, primarily because Air Europa Express of Spain decided to withdraw from operations about a year ago.

In other BAE Systems news, the U.K.-based company said that its Trading and Services team has won new sales, leasing and lease management business in both Europe and North America, to include non-BAE Systems origin aircraft. Management of the non-BAE Systems aircraft include an agreement with BCI Aircraft Leasing of Chicago to sell or lease two 737- 200s and two DC-10-30s, plus an agreement with Citibank, the security trustee for a consortium of six banks to act as lease manager for four Airbus A319s. The rapidly growing asset management group within BAE System also has a mandate from ANZ Investment Bank in Australia to re-market for sale or lease four BAe 146 regional jetliners plus an agreement with DaimlerChrysler to re-market a BAe 146-100.

The Trading and Services group was formed about two years ago "to build upon the success of the increasing brokerage work that the asset management team was getting for work on behalf of other parties, such as banks, to help them re-market BAe 146s and, in the states, the Jetstream 31s," Dorman said. The new group is jointly based at Hatfield, England, just north of London, and Herndon, Va., just outside Washington, D.C. Along with re-marketing, it also does portfolio management on the behalf of clients such as banks, an expertise that a bank doesn't normally possess, Dorman said.

>>Contact: Nick Godwin, BAE Systems; Tele: +33 (0) 5 34 60 73 47, e-mail: nick.godwin@baesystems.com David Dorman; tele: +44-1582-488336, e-mail: ddaviddorman@cs.com<<