Lessor and MRO firm AerSale has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire 24 Boeing 757-200 passenger aircraft that it will convert into freighters.
AerSale, which offers and array of aviation services including conversions, said it had targeted Boeing 757 passenger aircraft as feedstock “for a burgeoning freight market”.
“Pre-Covid, more freight was carried in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft than in pure freighters. As a result of the reduced demand for passenger air travel and the concurrent explosive growth of the e-commerce market, there is a supply shortage of dedicated freighter aircraft for the foreseeable future,” stated Craig Wright, AerSale’s president of aircraft and engine management.
“The Rolls-Royce powered 757 is the optimal narrow-body freighter aircraft to service this need, and our team will be converting these aircraft to freighters at our Goodyear Facility,” added Bob Nichols, AerSale’s executive chairman.
A portion of this 757 fleet and spare engines will be disassembled for their component parts, which the industry refers to as USM (used serviceable material).
