UK-based charter airline Titan Airways has taken delivery of the first Airbus A321P2F passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion aircraft on lease.

The delivery was announced by aircraft leasing company BBAM Limited Partnership.

The A321P2F is the first of several Airbus A321 freighters that are being converted under contract with Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW), a joint venture between ST Engineering and Airbus.

Titan Airways managing director Alastair Willson said: “We are delighted to take delivery of our first A321P2F from BBAM and EFW. Titan Airways has over 32 years of successful freight and passenger operations and has been an Airbus operator since 2013.

“The A321P2F will enable us to utilise all the benefits of this type into our air freight activities, including best-in-class economics, reduced noise, a lower carbon footprint and real-time health monitoring, ensuring the highest levels of reliability.”

The A321P2F offers containerised loading in both the main and lower deck.

The aircraft has a proven gross payload of more than 28 metric tonnes that can be increased in future conversions.

EFW chief executive officer Andreas Sperl said: “We want to thank our customer, BBAM and operator of this freighter, Titan Airways for entrusting us with growing their freighter fleet with a new member of the Airbus freighter family.

“As our A321P2F programme steadily gains traction with more redeliveries, we will, together with our parent companies ST Engineering and Airbus, double down on delivering this innovative solution to the market and capturing more narrowbody freighter market share.”