Saudia (SV, Jeddah International) has placed an order with Mammoth Freighters for seven current generation B777 converted freighters and will establish a conversion centre at Jeddah International in cooperation with the American firm.
The Saudi flag carrier said initial conversions will be executed by Mammoth at its GDC Technics facility at Fort Worth Alliance airport. It did not disclose whether this would cover the entire batch of seven aircraft or just some of them. The deal also includes a further five purchase rights.
Saudia did not disclose whether it would add B777-200(LR)(MF)s or B777-300(ER)(MF)s. It provided no details about induction timelines, the aircraft's identity, or whether they would be sourced internally from the airline's fleet of passenger B777s. The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Saudia operates thirty-five B777-300(ER)s.
The conversion centre at Jeddah airport will be run by the carrier's MRO arm, Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI), using Mammoth's Supplemental Type Certificate (STC).
The American firm backed by Fortress Investment Group plans to obtain STCs for both the -200(LR)(MF) and the -300(ER)(MF) by the end of 2023. Its first customer is Cargojet Airways (W8, Hamilton, ON), which ordered both the -200(LR)(MF) and the -300(ER)(MF) variants.
Fortress Investment Group owns ten ex-Delta Air Lines B777-200(LR)s for the conversion programme. The ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows that it has yet to buy any -300(ER) feedstock.
Saudia's current cargo fleet comprises four production B777-200Fs. The airline also wet-leases two B747-400(BDSF)s and one B747-400FSCD from Air Atlanta Icelandic under a long-term deal.
