Irish aviation group ASL Aviation Holdings (ASL), with which South African air cargo and humanitarian operations company Safair is associated, has announced that it is taking up the ten options that it took out in mid-2019 for Boeing 737-800BCF cargo aircraft. BCF stands for Boeing Converted Freighter and indicates that the aircraft were originally built as airliners and not built from scratch as freighters.

At the Paris Air Show in June 2019 ASL ordered ten 737-800BCFs and took the now exercised options on ten more. The first of the aircraft ordered at that time entered service last month with ASL subsidiary ASL Airlines France. The second will go to ASL’s Thailand-based joint-venture (JV) subsidiary K-Mile Asia this month (entering operational service in April). But the majority of the aircraft will be operated by ASL’s European subsidiary operations.

The Boeing 737-800, on which the 737-800BCF is based, is one of the models of the ‘new generation’ (third generation) family of the famed airliner, which is the generation that preceded the fourth generation 737 MAX family. The 737-800BCF has as much as 15% greater fuel efficiency as freighters based on the preceding ‘classic’ (second) generation 737-400.

“The performance and reliability of the 737-800BCF make it the perfect fit for our combined fleet renewal and growth programmes and so we have moved to confirm our ten options earlier than planned,” explained ASL CE Dave Andrew. “The aircraft offers an excellent option for our express cargo customers as they develop their networks to meet demand in the years ahead. It is ‘right-sized’ in payload and range and offers the improved carbon efficiency that ASL and our customers see as an essential element in fleet planning as we aim for future carbon efficiency.”

The 737-800BCF is usually employed for express cargo operations on domestic or short-haul international routes. It can carry a maximum payload of 23.9 t and has a maximum range of 3 750 km. 

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with ASL Aviation Holdings, which began at the Paris Air Show and was highlighted recently by their first 737-800BCF entering service,” highlighted Boeing freighter conversions director Jens Steinhagen. “We look forward to seeing how their growing fleet takes advantage of the 737-800BCF’s market-leading reliability and efficiency.”

ASL has subsidiary airlines in Belgium, Ireland and Hungary, as well as that in France and its Thai JV and South African associate group. Last year ASL aircraft carried 810 000 t of cargo worldwide. It also operates a maintenance facility in Belgium and owns a number of aircraft leasing entities.