Ancra wins B737-800 loading system contract for converted freighters

Ancra International will provide the cargo loading system for the new Boeing 737-800BCF (Boeing conversion freighter) aircraft as a Boeing Supplier Furnished Equipment (SFE).
Boeing Commercial Aviation Services made the appointment of Ancra, which has delivered 550 cargo loading systems for Boeing’s 737 and 757 airplanes. More than 900 freighters currently use Ancra’s main deck systems.
As Boeing targets sales of its 737-800 passenger to freighter conversion programme in the Chinese market, Ancra already has its Boeing 737, 757, and 767 cargo loading system products flying with nine operators in the region and has established a spare parts warehouse in Hong Kong to better serve its customers.
“We are very excited to win this conversion programme with Boeing for the 737-800 aircraft, and we are pleased that Boeing chose Ancra as the partner to help expand their business into the narrowbody conversion marketplace,” said Ed Dugic, director of sales and marketing for Ancra.
He added: “We feel that our flippered-siderail was a major technology differentiator since aircraft turn-around times are significantly increased in the presence of fixed-lip siderails as pallets that are damaged or over-tensioned tend to jam under the fixed vertical restraints.
“Unlike widebody aircraft, there is simply no space between the cargo and the liner in a 737 to get behind the pallets to help free them when they get stuck.”
In July this year, Boeing unveiled ten new orders for its B737 and B767 passenger to freighter conversion programme.