SriLankan converts wide-body passenger aircraft into dedicated cargo carrier

The upper deck of the SriLankan Cargo A330-200 freighter aircraft,  equipped to carry 60 cubic metres of freight

SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage lighting the traditional oil lamp at the launch of SriLankan Cargo’s first ever wide body Airbus A330-200 freighter aircraft

Chamara Ranasignhe, SriLankan Airlines’ Head of Cargo addressing the gathering at the launch  

• Aimed at mainly supporting SL’s export industries
• Aircraft reconfiguration carried out in-house

In its quest to continuously support Sri Lanka’s export industries and to keep the country connected with the global economy during the pandemic, the national carrier SriLankan Airlines has converted a wide-body passenger aircraft into a dedicated cargo aircraft.

This converted Airbus A330 aircraft commenced operations yesterday to key destinations in the Far East and Europe.

SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage said, “We have transformed this aircraft to allow maximum cargo capacity with main deck loading in addition to the aircraft’s lower deck cargo to mainly support the needs of our export industries, as well as our imports sector, during the current global shortage of air cargo capacity and to strengthen the airline’s revenue stream during a time when the air transport industry is in crisis.”

The reconfiguration of the aircraft was carried out in-house at the airline’s hub at Bandaranaike International Airport, where the SriLankan Airlines’ engineering team worked around the clock. 

The new operational configuration has been certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka.

The aircraft will fly a total of 170 cubic metres of cargo capacity with the enhanced 60 cubic metres of cargo on its upper deck with 110 cubic metres carried on the lower deck. The total payload of the aircraft will amount to 45 metric tons. 

Chamara Ranasinghe, Head of SriLankan Cargo said, “With the poor demand for passenger travel and the consequent reduction of air freight capacity in the global market has left a significant void for global supply chains. 

The past few months have seen SriLankan Airlines operating in several routes specifically to cater to this demand for cargo capacity with our fleet of passenger aircraft. The converted operation comes at an ideal time for providing customers with enhanced volume capacity in maximising the connectivity per flight.”

SriLankan Airlines currently operates other aircraft on special cargo flights to 20 destinations in the Europe, Middle East, Australia, India and the Far East regions whilst offering capacity for cargo charter operations to customers in need of the same.