Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, demand for non-essential travel has plunged and planes are lying idle.
Amid the dire situation, airlines need to find new ways to survive and have found ways to continue flying without human passengers — by carrying more cargo.
Singapore Airlines has already bumped up its cargo operations, now its sister airline Scoot has done so by totally removing the seats on 1 of its plane so it can take up to almost 20 tonnes of cargo.
Previously, when Scoot started using A320 narrowbody aircraft for cargo in May, it had to load the cargo on top of the seats.
That’s after it started carrying cargo in the bellies of its B787-9 widebody passenger aircraft in March.
Obviously, loading cargo on top of seats isn’t ideal, so the airline started looking for other ways to improve its freight capabilities to offer more options to the industry.
A solution, of course, was not to have seats.
According to a press release by Scoot, it took 4 days to modify the plane, which is of the A320ceo (9V-TAZ) model.
Not only were the seats taken out, placards were added to mark out the areas where cargo can be placed.
More fire extinguishers were also added to the plane.
Another plane of the same model is set to be modified this week, said Scoot.
Now that this aircraft takes cargo, there will be just 4 humans on its flights at the very least.
That’s 2 pilots and 2 cabin crew to handle in-flight emergencies and take safety precautions.
All crew members are trained to identify hazards and handle emergencies including smoke, fumes or fire, Scoot said.
The modified plane has already flown its maiden cargo flight.
It took off last Saturday (22 Aug) from Fuzhou, China and transported 13 tonnes of cargo in its belly and cabin to Singapore.
Most of the goods were for daily use.
With the flight from Fuzhou, Scoot is now one of the first airlines in South-east Asia to fly modified aircraft for cargo purposes.
The plane is scheduled to take on 4 more flights in what remains of this month.
Scoot has also flown cargo charters to 9 other cities, totaling more than 200 in total. The cities are:
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) director-general Kevin Shum praised Scoot for responding nimbly to market conditions during the Covid-19 crisis to meet cargo demand.
He said the modified planes will help Scoot freight service between Singapore and key trading markets.
Thanking CAAS for approving and certifying the plane modifications, Scoot chief executive Campbell Wilson said the modification were the company’s “biggest undertaking to date”.
However, with many plane lying idle due to the pandemic, cargo frieght is an “alternative revenue stream” that Scoot has explored, and it has been steadily expanding its capacity and capabilities in this area.
Kudos to Scoot for diversifying its operations in response to the plunge in passenger demand.
Its move to enhance cargo operations not only ensures the airlines stays afloat, but provides an essential service during the pandemic.
While we’ll still be hoping that travel demand will get back to normal soon as select travel restrictions are lifted, at least we know that our airlines can survive in the meantime.
Featured images adapted from Scoot.
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