Yangcheng Evening News reporter Tang Heng reported: Since the outbreak, airlines around the world have cut a large number of passenger flights, and the capacity of the original passenger cabin has dropped sharply, unable to meet the increased demand for cargo due to the surge in demand for medical supplies. In order to alleviate the pressure on transportation, many airlines at home and abroad have opened "passenger-to-cargo" charter flights, contributing civil aviation forces to fight the epidemic worldwide.
Prior to this, the number of domestic and foreign passenger flights has been greatly reduced with the development of the epidemic, and various airlines are facing operational pressure. The "passenger to cargo" flights can solve the problem of aircraft turnover to a certain extent, and can also offset the airline's loss.
As of April 19, China Southern Airlines has successfully completed 194 "passenger-to-cargo" flights and shipped 2,342 tons of cargo to 22 countries including Italy, France and Canada.
China Eastern Logistics dismantled the seats of six A330-200 passenger aircrafts to achieve full cargo transportation in both the passenger and cargo compartments; and several passenger aircrafts used belly-belt transportation to carry materials without removing the seats. China Eastern has implemented a total of 58 passenger-to-cargo charter flights for cargo transportation, and 3377 sorties are transported in the abdominal cabin of the regular flight. It has shipped a total of 6,220.52 tons to Japan, South Korea, Italy and other countries.
Most foreign airlines also increase freight capacity by "passenger to cargo". On April 16, Etihad Airways announced that it maintains at least 4 daily cargo capacity in the Chinese market; Air Canada used the 777-300ER with its seats removed to fly the passenger to cargo flight from Shanghai to Montreal and carried 20 tons of protective masks; Ethiopian Airlines also announced the weekly implementation of "passenger to cargo" or cargo flights departing from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing.
The reporter learned that from March 21 to April 20, the Baiyun Airport Logistics Company has guaranteed 1,147 international inbound and outbound cargo flights, including nearly 320 passenger-to-cargo flights. Baiyun Airport Logistics Company has cooperated with airline companies such as Lanmei Airlines, Russian Northwind Airlines, Rwanda Airlines, Finnair, Philippines Cebu Airlines, Cambodia Jingcheng Airlines, Malindo Airlines, etc. "Customer to goods" guarantee business, run 131 classes per week.