BAE postpones Avro RJ freighter conversion project
The UK’s BAE Systems Regional Aircraft (BARA) has postponed plans to produce a new freighter conversion of the Avro RJ regional jet.
The company announced a year ago that it planned a conversion of the RJ100, the largest of the three-member Avro RJ family. It would have been able to accommodate seven standard LD3 containers, plus one smaller container to slot into the rear fuselage.
Several major European carriers—such as Brussels Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines—have recently retired their Avro passenger fleets, several of which have found their way to South American and Caribbean operators. The jet has a reputation for ruggedness and has a particularly sturdy undercarriage, which allows it to operate from smaller airstrips, even those with unsurfaced runways. Several have been converted into dedicated water bombers for the North American market.
The freighter conversion would have been a niche product, with BAE Systems saying it needed commitments for 10 examples for the Avro RJ100 freighter project to be formally launched.
The company said several factors were behind the decision to postpone the project, notably a recent decision by ASL Airlines Ireland to sell the eight BAe 146-300QT freighters that are currently operated by ASL Airlines Spain. The BAe 146 was the immediate predecessor to the Avro RJ.
The release to the market of the eight ASL aircraft “has had a significant impact on the Avro RJ100 freighter launch,” the company said. “Hence, the program has been postponed until market conditions improve. Should they improve, the program could be revived at some point in the future.”
BAE Systems had undertaken a year-long concept study of the project before announcing it in August 2016 and this would put it in good stead should the program be revived, it added.
Last year’s announcement had attracted some serious market interest, the company said, but this had not solidified into the scale of commitments that would have justified setting up a conversion production line that would have generated the necessary economies of scale.
