The rise of the passenger aircraft converted to carry freight – aka the Preighter – dominated discussions at GHI’s Big Debate Webinar on the Great Air Cargo Opportunity post COVID-19.
The webinar featured speakers from JBT Aerotech, Turkish Airlines Cargo, Virgin Atlantic Cargo, Menzies Aviation, TIACA and EFW.
Preighter traffic has soared in 2020, as airlines look to secure revenue from passenger aircraft that would otherwise be grounded by the pandemic, the session heard.
GSE innovations are underway to help handlers offload this tricky hybrid cargo carrier, the Webinar was told. David Bunting, MD for EMEA at JBT Aerotech, outlined the testing of a cargo chute to aid the unloading of passenger cabins filled with freight. See the Webinar here: https://annual.groundhandling.com/past-webinars
The pre-eminence of cargo during the pandemic is a trend that is set to continue through 2020 and beyond, the session heard. More than 80% of those logging on said that they planned to expand their air cargo business in the next six months. Look out for more cargo seminars at the GHI Cargo Zone at the 22nd Annual Conference in Copenhagen from 30 November: https://annual.groundhandling.com/
