This file photo provided by Korean Air Lines Co. shows cargo being loaded on the company’s A330 jet at a local airport.
SEOUL, May 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Korean Air Lines Co. took the extraordinary measure of deploying medium-haul planes on long-haul eastern North American routes starting earlier this month to cope with the recent surge in cargo transport volume.
The South Korea’s flagship carrier started operating A330 passenger aircraft as cargo dedicated planes on routes to and from New York and Toronto three times a week from this month, according to industry sources.
This was the first time for Korean Air to deploy medium-haul passenger planes on these routes.
After landing in Anchorage, Alaska, the A330 planes are checked and refueled and then take off again towards the final destinations.
Despite the fact that medium-haul planes have less space for cargo and generate an additional stopover cost compared to long-haul planes, Korean Air decided to deploy the smaller planes to better cope with the increase in cargo demand.
In the first quarter of this year, the company flew an average of 143 cargo flights per week, up 7 percent from a year ago, with monthly flights of passenger aircraft dedicated for cargo transport numbering between 700 and 800.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
