Icelease Orders First 767-300 Converted Freighter From Boeing

Icelease has agreed to acquire one Boeing 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) with options for up to two additional aircraft, Boeing announced at Cargo Facts Symposium, where the parties held a signing ceremony on Oct. 22, 2026. The deal moves the Icelandic lessor, best known for narrowbody conversions, into the medium widebody freighter segment for the first time.

The timeline is concrete. Boeing plans to induct the first aircraft in the first quarter of 2027 and deliver it in the second quarter of that year. ST Engineering's airframe MRO facilities in Singapore will perform the conversions. That makes the transaction a three-party supply chain: Boeing supplies the conversion program, ST Engineering supplies the touch labor, and Icelease supplies the capital.

What does the aircraft bring?

The 767-300BCF is a medium widebody converted freighter with a range of 3,300 nautical miles and a payload of 57 tons. In practical terms, that capacity sits well above the narrowbody converted segment and roughly covers transatlantic or intra-Asia cargo missions without a stop. For a lessor, the type opens a customer base of carriers needing mid-size lift, a market Boeing continues to court with its converted freighter lines.

The aircraft will not sit on Icelease's own balance sheet in isolation. It joins the managed cargo portfolio of IAT Leasing, Icelease's Dublin-based sister company, which already includes seven Boeing 737-800BCF aircraft plus other freighter types leased to various customers. The 767 gives IAT a widebody rung on a ladder that until now has been narrowbody-heavy.

How deep does the relationship run?

The commercial history is long by industry standards. Sigthor Einarsson, Icelease Managing Partner, said the agreement covers conversions of up to three aircraft and "marks an important milestone for both Icelease and its Dublin-based sister company IAT Leasing." He noted that the relationship between Icelease and Boeing "dates over 20 years and includes a multitude of new aircraft deliveries as well as cargo conversions."

Two decades of repeat business is the lessor equivalent of a credit rating. It also frames the options: two additional conversions, exercisable as Icelease grows, suggest incremental demand rather than a speculative fleet bet.

What is Boeing claiming?

Lindsey Douglas, Boeing's vice president of Cabin, Modifications, Maintenance and Digital Services, called Icelease "an important partner for our Boeing Converted Freighter programs" and said the agreement "underlines our continued collaboration to meet global cargo demand." She added that the 767-300BCF is "a proven performer in the cargo industry" and expressed confidence it "will continue to deliver value for many years to come."

Those claims merit the usual scrutiny. "Proven performer" is a marketing characterization; the verifiable facts are the type's specifications, the backlog of conversion slots, and this order itself, which is firm for one airframe with two options rather than a three-unit commitment. The induction slot in early 2027 also signals where Boeing's conversion capacity sits: roughly a year out from signing, at ST Engineering's Singapore facilities rather than at alternative conversion sites.

What happens next?

Watch for exercise of the two options, which would depend on lessee demand for medium widebody capacity, and for IAT Leasing to name an operator as delivery in the second quarter of 2027 approaches. For now, the deal adds one firm widebody conversion to Boeing's book and widens an Icelandic lessor's cargo franchise.