Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi Noi Bai International) will enter the dedicated freighter market, having signed a commitment with Air Transport Services Group for the sale, P2F conversion, and lease-back of two A321-200s.
"We are acquiring two A321s from them. We're converting them to freighters, and we're leasing them back to them," ATSG's Chief Executive and President Rich Corrado said during the holding's quarterly earnings call.
Chief Commercial Officer Mike Berger added that the aircraft will redeliver to Vietnam Airlines in 2023. ATSG did not reveal the STC to be used.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Vietnam Airlines operates forty-eight A321-200s, of which all but three are owned by the carrier. The airline is in the process of a gradual rollover to an A320neo Family narrowbody fleet. According to its Request for Proposals from January 2022, the two converted A321-200s will be of 2007 vintage of which six of the carrier's A321s were built in that year. Vietnam Airlines did not respond to ch-aviation's request for specific identification of the two airframes.
The Vietnamese flag carrier does not currently operate any dedicated freighters.
The ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows that ATSG's in-house lessor unit, Cargo Aircraft Management, owns 114 aircraft, more than half of which - 74 units - are leased to the holding's own carriers ABX Air, ATI - Air Transport International, and Omni Air International. The remainder is placed with various cargo carriers around the world. Last year, ATSG executed a similar sale/lease-back transaction involving P2F conversion with Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau), buying two of its B767-300ERs and redelivering them as B767-300ER(BDSF)s.
The lessor focuses on the B767 and B777 Families and owns a small portfolio of narrowbody aircraft, comprising four B757-200(C)s placed with ATI and four A321-200s under conversion (two have been earmarked for Malaysia's Raya Airways (TH, Kuala Lumpur Subang)).
