Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC), the regional aircraft leasing company, and Akkodis have signed an agreement for five freighter conversion kits for the ATR 72-600, with the first deliveries starting from as early as Q1 2023.
The aircraft for conversion will come from NAC’s existing ATR fleet. The ATR 72-600 conversion kits have the flexibility to be converted back to ATR 72-500 conversion kits, and thus are suitable for application across NAC’s entire fleet of ATR 72s.
Akkodis holds an STC (Supplemental Type Certificate) for cargo conversion on ATR legacy aircraft, with more than 70 converted aircraft flying around the world, each offering 75.5 cu m of cargo volume and carrying over 8 tons of freight.
The integration of the freighter modification onto the ATR-600’s New Avionic Suite (NAS) presented a challenge. Nevertheless, Akkodis engineering experts identified a solution to enable them to extend the certification to the next generation of ATR aircraft.
Norman C.T. Liu, President & CEO of NAC, said: “We are pleased to expand our existing relationship with Akkodis with a launch order for the ATR 72-600 passenger to freighter conversion program.
“NAC aims to remain the leader in regional aviation and expand into larger narrowbody aircraft, while building our full life cycle asset management capabilities.”
Francesco Aucelli, COO of the GBL Aviation at Akkodis commented: “The ATR 72-600’s modern glass cockpit will be very attractive to freighter operators, as it features the very latest avionics with performance-based navigation capabilities.
“Despite the technical challenge of the NAS integration, the ATR-600 freighter configuration provides new opportunities for cargo operations and we are thrilled to support NAC and the industry in such a way.”
