With the worldwide disruption in tourism and air travel, businesses reliant on them for revenue have to come up with innovative ways to stay afloat.
Our national carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) is no exception. To cope with the reduction in passengers, SIA recently removed all seats on 2 of its planes to make way for more cargo.
The planes that have undergone these modifications are Boeing 777-300ER aircrafts. One of them currently flies a freight route to Tokyo.
In a Facebook post, SIA shared that they’ve zhng-ed 2 long-range 777-300ER aircraft by removing passenger seats.
This modification apparently allows each plane to carry up to 12% more freight.
The decision is understandable as SIA expects its passenger capacity to be only around 11% of pre-pandemic levels, reports Tripzilla.
This leaves many planes with empty seats that could make way for cargo.
With passenger seats gone, cargo pallets take their space. With this, SIA is able to transport more cargo, generating more revenue to keep flying.
The national carrier said they will continue to be nimble and respond quickly to market needs.
Other airlines have also taken similar measures to boost their freight capabilities.
Back in August, Singapore Airlines Group’s Scoot modified their A320ceo aircraft so it can carry 20 tonnes of cargo to Fuzhou, China.
In their press release, Scoot Chief Executive said that the modifications were the company’s “biggest undertaking to date”, with cargo freight being an “alternative revenue stream”.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, one wouldn’t have expected to see passenger planes filled with cargo instead of humans.
But these are tough and unusual times. Kudos to members of the airline industry for innovating even as tourism takes a back seat.
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Featured images adapted from Facebook.
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