Chinese major maintenance, repair and overhaul organisation (MRO) HAECO Xiamen announced on Tuesday that it had completed its first conversion of an Airbus A321-200 airliner into a freighter aircraft (making the aircraft an A321-200PCF). It had executed the conversion in partnership with US company 321 Precision Conversions.

321 Precision Conversions, a joint venture Precision Aircraft Solutions and Aircraft Transport Services Group, has the Supplemental Type Certificate from the US Federal Aviation Administration to carry out A321-200PCF conversions. HAECO Xiamen has been authorised by Precision as a conversion centre since 2010, hitherto focused on PCF conversions of Boeing 757-200 airliners. HAECO Xiamen also has a direct relationship with Boeing and has carried out PCF conversions (known to Boeing as BCF, for Boeing Converted Freighter) on the 747-400, 737-300, 737-400, and 737-800, as well as the 757-200, airliners. The Chinese company was the first MRO to carry out a 747-400BCF conversion.

“HAECO Xiamen started collaboration with Precision on the Boeing 757-200PCF conversion in 2010,” pointed out company CEO Kevin Guan. “We have [had a] good cooperative relationship with Precision in the past 12 years, and we are delighted to extend this collaboration to A321-200PCF conversion[s]. HAECO Xiamen is busy preparing to convert one Boeing 757-200PCF conversion line to A321-200PCF in the middle of the year and we look forward [to] introducing multiple A321 conversion lines here then.”

“Our long-term relationship with HAECO Xiamen has proven them to be a consistent performer on the Boeing 757-200PCF programme and now on the A321-200PCF,” highlighted 321 Precision Conversions president Gary Warner. “Their experience and professional team has done a remarkable job on the first A321-200PCF conversion in China. We look forward to many more successful redeliveries.”

To minimise the downtime for the aircraft undergoing the PCF conversion, HAECO Xiamen carries out the conversion simultaneously with heavy maintenance checks and any other modifications. The company’s on-site quality assurance teams compile reports every day, as part of its comprehensive quality assurance process, to make certain that the work is carried out to the highest standards.