California-based C3 Aerospace, more commonly known as “C Cubed,” will induct its first Airbus A320 in about a month for freighter conversion, according to UK aviation technical consultancy IBA Group.

In September 2017 C Cubed became the third aviation engineering firm to announce it would develop a passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion program for the Airbus A320 and/or A321, following similar announcements by the EFW joint venture between Airbus and ST Aerospace and the A321 Precision Conversions joint venture between U.S. companies Precision Aircraft Solutions and Air Transport Services Group. C Cubed said it had already begun working on its engineering design for the conversion for some time, but subsequently little further information on the company’s A320/A321P2F program has emerged. C Cubed has not announced any launch customers for its A320 and A321 P2F conversions and has not identified which MRO facility will perform its conversions.

However, Jonathan McDonald, IBA Group’s head analyst for commercial and aging aircraft, told a webinar audience recently that C Cubed is proceeding with an A320 P2F conversion first so that it can iron out any technical issues it finds during the A320 conversion before it begins its first P2F conversion of an A321. The larger A320-family model “is likely more popular” as a freighter conversion candidate because it will offer a higher cargo payload, he said.

McDonald said C Cubed projects a late-summer 2020 rollout date for its first converted A320 and expects to roll out its first A321-200PF by the end of 2020. The company’s design for both conversions appears virtually identical; it calls for the cargo doors installed in the A320 and A321 to appear in the same position on the forward fuselage, at a location where door access clearance ahead of the engines “is sound,” he noted.

The two conversion designs will share about 90 percent commonality, allowing for use of the same loading equipment for all A320s and A321s converted under the C Cubed program, said McDonald. The only major difference between the two programs will involve the 9G-cargo restraint barrier in the A321P2F, which designers made “a little beefier” than that in the A320P2F because the A321P2F will carry more cargo containers on its main deck.

IBA Group understands that C Cubed’s conversions will apply both to IAE V2500-powered and CFM56-5-powered A320-family aircraft, and will apply to aircraft with wingtip fences and to those with Sharklets. However, McDonald said the conversion program will not cover the A321-100, the first, low-gross-weight version of the A321, of which Airbus manufactured only about 90.

C Cubed says its A320P2F conversion cost (not including any additional maintenance required) will approximately equal that for the Boeing 737-800, according to IBA Group, which lists the average conversion-only price for a 737-800 at approximately $4 million.