Finnair Increases Cargo Capacity by Removing Seats from Two A330s

Finnair has removed the economy class seats from two Airbus A330 aircraft so that they can be used for cargo.

The modification doubles the cargo capacity of the aircraft.

“Functioning logistic connections are always critical for the world economy, but their meaning is heightened during this crisis. To ensure the availability of national emergency supplies, it’s important to be able to access goods from another continent in a matter of hours,” said Mikko Tainio, Managing Director of Finnair Cargo.

The Airbus A330 cabin is especially well suited for carrying lighter freight, as the loading happens through the regular doors. The cargo is secured in the cabin with cargo nets.

Finnair’s technical operations implemented the A330 modifications and removed the seats in fewer than two days. As the demand for passenger traffic increases, the planes can also be returned to passenger operations quickly.

In April and May, Finnair has flown cargo to cities in China, Japan and Korea, as well as Tallinn and Brussels in Europe.

Last week, Finnair started cargo flights to New York and Bangkok and is currently operating more than 50 one way cargo flights a week.

“By offering cargo connections between different continents, we can do our part to help the world to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. Thanks to the demand for cargo, we’ve been able to keep more of our planes in the sky and people employed both in the air and in our terminal operations,” added Mikko Tainio.

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