Emirates has released extra cargo capacity, by converting ten of its Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft into freighters.
In this change, Emirates modified the cabin of its aircraft, by removing all economy seats – leaving the business and first-class seats aboard.
The removal of the economy seating allows for an extra 17 tonnes or 132 cubic metres of additional cargo capacity per flight on top of the 40-50 tonne cargo capacity in the belly hold of the widebody passenger aircraft.
The modified Boeing 777-300ER aircraft are being deployed on routes to key production and consumer markets where Emirates SkyCargo sees maximum demand for movement of urgently required goods. Aircraft are being modified by Emirates Engineering, in Dubai.
Each aircraft requiring close to 640 man-hours of work for the modification before it can re-enter service.
Emirates Engineering engineers remove 305 Economy Seats from one aircraft, fixing safety equipment and implementing regular load-bearing tests during the process. The seats will be stored and reinstalled when the aircraft is handed back by Emirates SkyCargo.
Currently, seven aircraft have already been modified by the Emirates Engineering team, with three more aircraft due to be ready by mid-July 2020.
Source: Economy Class & Beyond