Chinese lines will expand on modification capabilities in Fort Worth and Manchester.
US-based Boeing 777 cargo conversion specialist Mammoth Freighters is looking to open two lines in China, stating that Shandong’s STAECO will be its partner for the modifications.
The company already has four lines in Fort Worth, Texas and two in the UK – it is displaying a 777-200LRMF, converted for DHL at partner STS Aviation in Manchester, at the Farnborough air show.
Chief executive Bill Tarpley says the first -200LR for conversion in China will be inducted at STAECO’s facility in September.
Tarpley says the US FAA’s certification of the aircraft has given momentum to the programme, and the company is looking to increase its output.
There are two more -200LRs for DHL at STS – Tarpley says the company is awaiting UK certification within a few weeks – and a further two at the Texas facility.
Fort Worth also has two Qatar Airways aircraft, one of which is painted and was recently involved in a highly-public low-pass incident.
While much of its initial -200LR feedstock has come from Delta Air Lines, Tarpley says a -200LR from Ethiopian Airlines is also being converted.
This aircraft will be the first with a narrow lower aft cargo door to undergo the work, he adds.
Mammoth is focusing on its prototype 777-300ERMF conversion in Texas, which Tarpley hopes will be flying by October with certification likely to follow in the first quarter of 2027. A second -300ER is awaiting induction.
Tarpley says the company is also working on “getting span time reduced”, bringing the time to convert the jets down to around 180 days, and looking to an overall annual output of up to 16-18 aircraft.
He says Mammoth produces the large main-deck cargo doors, wider than those on the Boeing 777F, in Texas and can build 24 per year if needed.
Only around 60 777-200LRs were built as passenger models, and Tarpley expects Mammoth will ultimately convert most of the fleet.
While he expects the -300ER to become more prominent in the company’s activity, Mammoth is not interested in the -200ER. “The wind is so much lighter, but it costs the same to do it,” he says.
The post Mammoth prepares to start converting 777s at Shandong’s STAECO facility first appeared on FlightGlobal.