IBA forecasts oversupply of 737-800 P2F aircraft

Aviation market intelligence and consultancy company IBA, has revealed there are signals of potential oversupply of the Boeing 737-800 passenger-to-freighter (P2F) aircraft, with 60 conversions forecast for this year alone.

IBA highlighted data from its aviation intelligence platform, IBA Insight, which shows that the 737-800 has been converted at a faster rate than any other P2F programme. In the six years since the first conversions, the 737-800 P2F has grown rapidly to 200 aircraft. Comparatively, it took the 757-200 P2F and 767-300ER P2F fleets 15 years to reach this size.

The total 737-800 P2F fleet is on course to surpass the 757-200 P2F fleet of 311 aircraft, which IBA believes suggests a risk of oversupply based on the rapid fleet growth. Indeed, the 737-800 continues to lead the narrow-body conversion market, with conversions of the A321-200 remaining steady as expected