Temporary cargo conversions were a quick fix to help airlines combat some of their losses in 2020. Passenger airlines repurposed their aircraft by removing passenger accommodations on the main deck to welcome a more consistent cash flow.
Asian airlines, in particular, performed outstandingly. As early as March 2020, they quickly implemented tactics learned during the SARS epidemic. Freighters at Air China, China Airlines and Korean Air surpassed their annual cargo records while China Southern’s freighters flew up to 15.5 hours a day last year.
While waiting for travel restrictions to lift in India, flypop has leased a Trent-powered A330 from Hi Fly to meet the need for freight supply on their routes. The partnership has now made its first delivery: clean bottled water to Inuit and Nunavummiut communities in the Iqaluit in northern Canada, whose local water sources have been contaminated with fuel. The area’s temperatures are consistently below freezing – making the journey a challenge that the Trent 700 is able to face due to its cold-weather performance. Alongside its reliability across a range of climates, flypop cite the Trent 700’s fuel-burn rate as a standout benefit, when paired with the A330, helping to reduce costs for each journey.
Other airlines, such as Lufthansa, have also repurposed passenger aircraft to expand their already existing freight capacity, while Heston Airlines added three A330-200s to their fleet last year, two of which are temporarily configured to carry cargo.
However the STC for temporary conversion is running out (EASA / FAA) and therefore more permanent ‘light’ conversions (ie. no change in aircraft structure) have been designed.
Lufthansa Technik is supporting the effort to create innovative ways to enable conversion. Its Temporary Cargo Cabin solution, developed with Airbus, can quickly convert any A330 into auxiliary freighters. While Avensis Aviation has created a flexible approach to passenger to freighter conversion, led by the disruption of the pandemic, in which airlines can choose easily reversible solutions for A330s and other widebody aircraft.