Gallery: Inside Electra Airways' A320 Fleet Retrofit Program

In early 2024, Electra Airways outlined plans to retrofit its fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft over the course of the year. The Bulgarian charter and ACMI airline, one of several companies under the Vector Group umbrella, disclosed to Aviation Week Network that it planned to retrofit all eight of its current A320 aircraft—a mature fleet with an average age of around 22 years.

Commencing in Spring 2024, two Electra-operated A320s underwent retrofit work simultaneously at the hangar of ETG Maintenance, an MRO provider that is also part of Electra’s Vector Group parent company. ETG, based in Varna, Bulgaria, took around three days on each aircraft to conduct cabin upgrade work, which included replacing the aircraft seats and carpets and installing new LED lighting. In total, the project has been in development for around one year, factoring in the concept creation by Airbus Design, negotiation with potential suppliers, procurement of all necessary parts and their final installation.

Speaking to Aviation Week Network in February, Matvey Koloturskiy, deputy CEO of Tel Aviv-headquartered Vector Group, revealed that Electra plans to modify the remaining six aircraft during the second half of 2024, in time for the start of 2025. Aside from the eight current aircraft, the retrofit project will encompass any aircraft added to the airline's fleet in the future. The carrier plans to increase its fleet to 15 A320s within the next 2.5 years.

ETG Maintenance estimates that between 12-15 technicians worked on the retrofitted aircraft at any one time.

The project's seating partner was UK-based Acro Aircraft Seating, which had recently been contracted to provide economy class seats for all Electra Airways aircraft. Pictured here are the new seats being loaded onto one of the aircraft in the Varna facility in early April. Fitted with a standard 28-in. seat configuration, Electra's Vector parent company said it chose the Acro product due to its curve design allowing more legroom while still being able to maximize the number of seats onboard. Vector also considered sustainability, since the seat structures are more than 98% recyclable. In total, Vector estimates each aircraft in its fleet will be more than one ton lighter after being retrofitted.

The installation of new LED lighting showcased the industry trend for greater operator customization. For this, Electra enlisted UK-based lighting specialist Cobalt Aerospace to provide lighting that offers fuel and weight savings without changes to the aircraft's electrical wiring system. 

Other partners on the retrofit program included Swiss company Lantal, which provided the upgraded fleet with carpets and curtains. Cabin specialist ABC International provided certification services and manufactured branding panels, placards and antimacassars for the aircraft.

Upon retrofit completion in April, both aircraft were wet leased to two operators for the whole summer 2024 season. One of these aircraft was delivered to Royal Air Maroc the next day.