British Airways has nearly doubled the number of cargo-only flights it operates between China and London, upping its current number from 13 to 21 dedicated cargo flights per week to transport vital medical supplies and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The airline expects to carry as much as 770 tonnes of cargo every week, including in the passenger cabin.

From May, British Airways will operate 14 flights a week between London and Shanghai. A further seven flights will fly between London and Beijing. Much of the cargo will be PPE like face masks, gowns and surgical visors, as well as ventilators which are needed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new flights will represent a huge increase in its current cargo operation between the two countries, having only operated 13 medical supply flights between the two countries in April.

While the majority of cargo will continue to be carried in the belly hold, some flights will also see provisions stacked in the passenger cabin. For British Airways, this is the first time ever that its transported cargo like this.

Likewise, Virgin Atlantic has also been helping the British government with special cargo-only flights – the first time Virgin has operated scheduled flights without passengers.

Many airlines around the world have repurposed their passenger planes as cargo-only operations. Last week, Air Canada went one step further by removing all of the seats from its Boeing 777-300’s so it could pack as much cargo in the cabin as possible.

Delta Air Lines recently became the first U.S.-based airline to win approval from the FAA to transport cargo in the passenger cabin crew and American Airlines is expected to follow suit very soon. Flight attendants at the Dallas Fort Worth-based airline will be assigned ‘fire watch’ duties on some of these flights because the passenger cabin doesn’t have automatic fire detection and suppression systems unlike the cargo hold.

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