Following the announcement in the beginning of the summer that Airbus is to discontinue the A320 conversion programme West Atlantic Sales Director Russell Ladkin expressed his disappointment with the news. West Atlantic were the launch customer for the aircraft and expected to take delivery of the first converted unit late next year. 

"This is a disappointment," Mr Ladkin said, "With increasing fuel costs, an efficient freighter was a key part of the decision process to select the A320 over the established competing products. Lowest unit cost is everything and we'll now be working with our customers to find the right solution for the capacity niche we saw the A320 fill".

West Atlantic is also the Worlds largest operator of the BAe ATP turboprop with 43 of the type in the fleet.  It is the leading (and biggest) dedicated regional freight operator in Europe.