The largest air carrier from the UAE has been transporting goods in the cabins of passenger aircraft for a year

The peculiarity of such transportation is that the cargo is on passenger seats equipped with protective covers and inside the cargo compartments of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

We are talking about Emirates SkyCargo, which since the beginning of the pandemic has carried out more than 3 thousand cargo flights on passenger planes and thus transported more than 11 thousand tons of cargo. Most of the cargo consisted of PPE and medical supplies, as well as clothing, dry food, dental supplies and sporting goods. For this type of transportation, this airline had to quickly develop new procedures, assess possible risks and make a number of important decisions.

Parts of the airlines, despite the pandemic, did not have to restructure so drastically. These include, for example, ZetAvia, whose fleet consists of Russian IL-76 cargo planes. These aircraft are highly reliable, have a maximum take-off weight of up to 190 tons and a maximum payload of up to 50 tons. The IL-76 flight range with a maximum payload is 3,700 km.

It is my hope that the aviation industry will cope with the current crisis and the effects of the pandemic as soon as possible. As for the tariffs for cargo and passenger air transportation, no one can give an unequivocal answer to this question yet. So far, we see prices continue to rise, despite vaccinations and anti-coronavirus measures taken by all countries.