ST Engineering Annual Report 2020

OPERATING REVIEW & OUTLOOK AEROSPACE to provide more integrated nacelle solutions to customers. With more engine nacelle types such as the GEnx engine for Boeing 787 in the pipeline, MRAS will continue to grow its aftermarket business and add more nacelle servicing solutions in the near future. Passenger-to-Freighter Conversion Although the slowdown in world trade weighed down on air freight volumes, the air cargo industry was still in a good position to capture growing specialised cargo segments such as pharmaceuticals, perishables and e-commerce. To capture opportunities in the resilient air freight market and address the shortfall in air cargo capacity as a result of grounded passenger aircraft, we leveraged our PTF and aircraft modification expertise to work closely with aircraft OEMs, airlines and air freight operators to come up with a slew of solutions to meet their needs. During the year, we added the world’s first completed A321 converted freighter, or A321P2F to our track record. Through Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), our Germany-based JV company with Airbus, we attained the Supplemental Type Certification (STC) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for our A321P2F in February, before redelivering the "head of version" to Vallair in mid-2020. The heightened interest in our A321P2F solution that followed our debut redelivery translated into greater interest from the market, adding to the two A321P2F units that aircraft leasing and management company, BBAM ordered from us earlier in the year. In anticipation of greater demand for our A321P2F conversion programme, we are working to more than double our capacity for conversions annually by setting up conversion lines in China, Germany and the U.S., starting with China by inducting our first A321 for conversion at our airframe facility in Guangzhou in November. Our A330P2F programme similarly gained further traction during the year. We secured a number of new orders from operators and lessors, which included two units from CDB Aviation. Apart from converting retired passenger aircraft into freighters, we also helped to turn passenger aircraft into temporary cargo planes by removing seats to introduce cargo carrying capacity to the passenger cabin. We applied our experience in cabin modification, engineering and certification to obtain an STC from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) for such a modification, which helped Scoot, a Singapore-based carrier, launch its first cargo plane in August. To further help airlines attain maximum cargo volume and ease cargo loading/unloading, we worked on a cabin cargo box solution, with each box designed to latch safely and securely into predefined positions in existing tracks meant for passenger seats. The box, which can be wheeled around, is small enough to fit through normal aircraft doors on both narrowbody and widebody aircraft. Cabin Interiors and Manufacturing At the Singapore Airshow 2020, we launched a new line of lavatories for both commercial narrowbody and widebody aircraft, which included the world’s first expandable aircraft lavatory that "Head of version" A321P2F preparing for its test flight / ST ENG I NEER I NG 40