Many airlines are in a rush to convert their passenger planes to freighters since the demand for air travel plummeted drastically due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To help airlines to meet increasing cargo demand, especially for the transportation of medical equipment, Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR offers a new concept of flexible cargo capacity and easy reconfiguration from full passenger to combined cargo/passenger layout overnight.
The concept allows ATR operators, on a permanent or seasonal basis, to catch new business opportunities, welcoming more cargo traffic on routes with limited passenger demand.
The new concept offers flexibility between full passenger configuration and passenger-cargo set-ups.
The business promises quick installation with overnight conversion to reduce the number of passenger seats from 72 to 44 and increases cargo load from 1,700 kilograms to 3,100 kilograms.
The reconfiguration from passenger to ‘Cargo Flex’ consists of the removal of passenger seats, nets, posts, partitions and the front cabin attendant seat. Then, there is an installation of two containers, on ATR 42-600s, or four containers on ATR 72-600s.
Re-installation of passenger configuration is also an overnight operation, according to the European turboprop manufacturer.
Article courtesy of Airlinerwatch.com
