FINNAIR HAVE BOOSTED THEIR CARGO CARRYING CAPACITY by removing the economy seats from two of their Airbus A330 passenger aircraft. The additional cabin space will be used to transport essential supplies into Finland during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the coronavirus outbreak caused sweeping travel restrictions around the world that have crippled airlines, almost half of all of the world's freight cargo was transported via passenger aircraft, often in the hold section alongside traveler luggage. However, one of the unforeseen results of the pandemic has been that freight networks around the world have seen their capacity reduced massively, restricting the flow of essential supplies such as food and medical equipment.
Finnair Cargo's Managing Director Mikko Tainio told the airline industry magazine Aviation Tribute that Finnair's decision to modify its passenger aircraft was taken specifically with the pandemic in mind.
"By offering cargo connections between different continents, we can do our part to help the world to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. Thanks to the demand for cargo, we’ve been able to keep more of our planes in the sky and people employed both in the air and in our terminal operations”.
Adam Oliver Smith - HT
Image Credit: Lehtikuva
