Airbus, ST Aerospace team

SINGAPORE -- Airbus, ST Aerospace and EADS EFW will work together on a program to convert A330 passenger jets into cargo freighters. A memorandum of understanding was signed at the Singapore Airshow. The P2F program will cover the conversion of A330-200 and A330-300 jets. ST Aerospace will lead the engineering development and EADS EFW will carry out most of the conversions in Dresden, Germany. About 2,700 freighters will be required over the next 20 years, and about half will be in the mid-sized freighter segment, including 900 conversions. EADS-EFW chief executive Andreas Sperl said that once the program is up and running, Dresden would be capable of converting 15-18 A330s a year. EADS EFW will become the European center for ST Aerospace's global maintenance, repair and overhaul operations. (Source: Wall Street Journal, Channel News Asia, ST Aerospace, Flightglobal, 02/15/12) Gulf Coast note: EADS, Airbus and ST Aerospace have operations in Mobile, Ala.