Boeing delivers 200th 737-800BCF to Texel Air

Boeing has delivered its 200th 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF). The programme has gone from a launch announcement in February 2016 to the world’s best-selling standard-body freighter, with more than 250 orders and commitments on its books.

The milestone aircraft carries a special livery marking the 200th conversion. It was handed over at a ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand, on 10 October to Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management (BBAM), which has leased it to Bahrain-based Texel Air. Representatives of Chisholm Enterprises, Texel Air, BBAM, the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand, New Zealand First Party and Boeing attended.

“Completing 200 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters is a significant programme milestone, underscoring the freighter’s reliability, efficiency and suitability for replacing older standard-body freighters,” said Lindsey Douglas, vice president of Cabin, Modifications, Maintenance and Digital Services at Boeing. “We’re proud to mark this achievement with long-standing partners Texel Air and BBAM, as operators worldwide rely on the 737-800BCF to serve their customers and grow with confidence.”

With this delivery, Texel Air’s New Zealand-based 737-800BCF fleet grows to seven aircraft. The fleet provides capacity for postal and logistics customers including NZ Post and Freightways.

“Having an additional aircraft based in New Zealand gives us greater flexibility to respond to the needs of businesses, whether that’s moving time-sensitive freight, supporting specialist charter requirements or connecting communities and businesses that rely on air freight,” said John Chisholm, founder and chairman of Texel Air.

From Mumbai headline to global workhorse
Boeing launched the Next-Generation 737-800BCF in February 2016 with orders and commitments for up to 55 conversions from seven customers: 30 firm orders and 25 commitments. The announcement came as the sixth edition of Air Cargo India opened in Mumbai. The biennial air freight exhibition and conference ran from 23 to 25 February 2016, and the BCF launch became the headline of the event. Boeing had a booth there, and its freighter and cargo leaders were in Mumbai for the show.

The 737-800 was the first Next-Generation 737 that Boeing offered for conversion. It was also the company’s first conversion programme on the 737 platform, although Boeing has been converting passenger aircraft into freighters for more than half a century.

Stan Deal, then senior vice president of Commercial Aviation Services at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said at the launch: “While the recovery of the global cargo market has been slow, we see demand for freighters, such as the 737-800BCF, that will carry express cargo on domestic routes.” Boeing forecast then that operators would need more than 1,000 converted freighters the size of the 737 over the next 20 years, with China’s domestic air freight carriers making up nearly a third of that market.

Boeing had initially targeted the fourth quarter of 2017 for the first delivery. It came in 2018. Since then, rising express, postal and e-commerce volumes have pushed the programme to 200 conversions.

On September 27, 2022, Boeing delivered the 100th 737-800BCF to AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor. AerCap leased the freighter to Brazil’s GOL Linhas Aéreas to support the growth of GOLLOG, GOL’s logistics business unit. The aircraft was converted at Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services Co. Ltd. (BSAS), home to the first 737-800BCF conversion line.

How the conversion works
Boeing teams supply the engineering and the parts kits. Each passenger 737-800 is converted at an appointed maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility with a dedicated 737-800BCF conversion line. The passenger interior is removed and the floor beams are reinforced. A main deck cargo door and a cargo loading system for pallets and containers are then installed.

Boeing positions the converted freighter as the most efficient and reliable aircraft in its class and supports it like a new Boeing freighter. Larger freighters carry high-density cargo on long-haul routes. The 737-800BCF is aimed mainly at express cargo on domestic and regional networks.

The main deck has 12 pallet positions (11 standard pallets and one half-pallet), giving 141.5 cubic metres (5,000 cu ft) of space. Two lower-lobe compartments add more than 43.7 cubic metres (1,540 cu ft). The aircraft can carry a payload of about 24 tonnes on routes of around 2,000 nautical miles or 3,700 kms.