april2022 - 29

relatively rare within the fleet of recognized passenger
airlines, observes Kurt.
" Generally, flag carriers have relatively smaller
freighter fleets whereas privately owned, and most
commonly low-cost carriers operate mostly only
passenger aircraft, " he says. " In a similar way, looking
at the world's leading air cargo only operators,
it can be observed that generally their feet sizes
are small compared to passenger airlines. Considering
that roughly 35 percent of the cargo
transported around the world, by value, is
carried by air, it is noteworthy to mention that
roughly half of this cargo is carried in the
belly of passenger flights. "
In response to the strong air cargo market
demand for the rapid, reliable and efficient
transportation of essential commodities,
several airlines introduced additional
cargo capacity during the pandemic by using
passenger aircraft with seats fully or partially
removed from the cabin, highlights Guillaume Crozier,
senior vice president for UAE Cargo at dnata.
These passenger aircraft converted for carrying
additional freight have been referred to as
" preighters. "
" To adapt to changing customer needs, we
enhanced services, improved processes
and trained more than 500
Dubai-based employees to safely
and efficiently handle passenger
planes carrying cargo only, " he says. " With no existing
industry standards to refer to, we built the necessary
procedures from scratch in collaboration with
key stakeholders, including IATA and several airline
customers. To ensure the procedures were safe, trials
were conducted at Dubai International (DXB) using
various loading and unloading methods across both
narrow- and wide-body aircraft. This allowed us to
identify the best and safest procedures to serve cargo-in-cabin
flights, " says Crozier.
Loading of cargo onto freighters requires the same
resources as passenger flights, together with some
adjustments, according to Kurt.
" High loaders are required to be main deck as
opposed to lower deck, ULD trolleys may need to be
longer depending on the sizes used for the flight in
question, " he says. " Special cargo may have specific
requirements such as a crane for oversized cargo.
Regardless of aircraft type, special arrangements are
again required for valuable cargo, live animals and/or
human remains. "
Aviation consultant Ivar Busk affirms that transforming
passenger aircraft into cargo aircraft is also
a booming business.
" The growing demand for cargo transport together
with the extreme price increase has made it financially
interesting to use those smaller cargo aircrafts.
We now see many conversions of 15-20 years old aircraft,
e.g., B757, B737, and A321, " he says. " If these are
not modified with a cargo door, one can use normal
high loaders and other loading devices. Otherwise
there is the need for the same equipment as for
'normal' freighters. "
April 2022 || AviationPros.com || 29
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