Castle Aviation is the first regional carrier to fly a converted Saab 340 as a freighter. And, it just may be the only Saab cargo customer for the foreseeable future.

The Akron, Ohio-based airline put the Saab 340 into service on April 20. The company has a lease-purchase agreement with Saab Aircraft Leasing. First put into service in 1987, the aircraft was converted to a freighter by Saab two years ago. It has served as a prototype that Saab flew around the country in its marketing campaign to small cargo carriers.

"For the moment, I am holding off on converting another plane," said Michael Magnusson, president of Saab Aircraft Leasing in Sterling, Va. "The response has been kind of disappointing. The cargo market is in limbo for the moment. There is not a lot of action, but a lot of wait-and-see attitude."

The wait-and-see attitude is not because business is slow, but rather because the Saab is too large for most regional cargo carriers, said Stan Bernstein, president of the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA).

The Saab 340 can carry about 8,500 pounds, or about 1,000 pounds more than Part 135 carriers are permitted. Efforts are under way to revamp Part 135 rules to increase the weight limit to 18,000, he added.

At the moment, "nobody wants to buy wasted space. Anything above 7,500 pound is wasted space." Should the industry convince the FAA to change the weight limit "there will be renewed interest" in the Saab, Bernstein said.

The Saab is the 12th plane in the Castle fleet. Most of the fleet consists of Cessna Caravans. Its sixth Caravan is due in July.

After posting its best year in its 20 years of operations, Castle Aviation owner Michael Grossman has been expanding his fleet. He added two last year, two this year, including the Saab, and plans to add the Caravan by July.

"We looked at the [Beech] 1900s, the [Embraer] Brasilias and Shorts. Once I looked at the Saab, got the information, talked to people, I made my mind up. It is a phenomenal plane for the cargo industry," Grossman told CRAN.

"I think the Saab will do for the industry what the Caravan did in the late 1990s. As the Beech became obsolete, the Caravan seemed to overnight take hold and sales went absolutely nuts. I believe the Saab will also, once the freight people out there figure what it can carry. It takes time to educate people."

Bernstein said Grossman's decision was sound. "They have a piece of equipment that is technologically advanced and it should do good for his customers. They are spearheading the market."

Magnusson said the converted Saab has been outfitted to meet FAA standards for a Class E freighter.

"You got good, nice cabin volume. You can load from the back or side. The floor is already stressed. Our nearest competitor is the Brasilia, but we can take about 10 to 15 percent more volume," he said. "Volume is a big deal with the courier companies because they tend to bulk up before they weigh out."

Castle Aviation generates about 25 percent of its business from scheduled freight flights and 50 percent from on-demand freight runs. The Saab will be part of the on-demand fleet. A subsidiary, North Star Business Aviation, contributes another 25 percent of the sales with on-demand charter flights.

Castle flies two nightly routes from Akron delivering freshly printed copies of the New York Times to Louisville, Ky., and Hamilton, Ont. It also makes three nightly flights for Purolator Courier from Cleveland, Cincinnati, Islip and Newburgh, N.Y., to Hamilton. "As the Purolator runs of small packages gets heavier, we will move them to the Saab," Grossman noted.

>>Contact: Michael Grossman, Castle Aviation, (330) 498-9333; Michael Magnusson, Saab Aircraft Leasing, (703) 406-7220; Stan Bernstein, Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association, (508) 778-7788.<<