Aviation
Commercial /
Europe
Future of the A380
Could the gigantic four-engined Airbus airliner be converted to a freighter?
Airbus A380
Emirates, maior operadora
Por Maarten Visser from Capelle aan den IJssel, Nederland - A6-EDY A380 Emirates 31 jan 2013 jfk, CC BY-SA 2.0
Rafael Ramos
4/9/2021
We all know that a pandemic has had a major impact on the air transport sector. However, this scenario is different when it comes to cargo transportation. High demand has prompted many airlines to convert their planes on an emergency basis to accommodate cargo on the main floor.
Some aircraft have come to be considered onerous for the transportation of passengers in this new scenario. One of the aircraft that had already received criticism because of its cost of operation was the Airbus A380. This plane had a retirement date, even with a few years of operation.
Airbus A380
Airbus
Por de:Benutzer:Xeper - originally from de wikipedia; uploaded by de:Benutzer:Xeper;Quelle: Selbst fotografiert Toulouse 2005-01-19, CC BY-SA 3.0
Airbus is discreetly studying a way to adapt the giant for cargo operations. The model will be different from other heavy freighters. Airbus is yet to do market research to see if the aircraft would actually meet demand.
According to the FreightWaves portal, Airbus plans to transform the A380 into a Combi configuration. In this case, the lower floor would be exclusively for cargo, and the upper one would maintain its passenger transport characteristic, however, and it can also be configured for the transportation of smaller loads.
However, analysts point out that this conversion may not be viable in this format, since the A380's empty weight is high, in addition to physical limitations to receive cargo.
"The design of the passenger and the location of the upper deck are not ideal for cargo use and would be relatively compromised in the context of payload, with significant volume, but with potential weight restrictions," said Chris Seymour, head of market analysis Ascend in an interview with FreightWaves.
Recently, the A321 family received a conversion of the type, transforming it into a freighter and, even, there was an expansion in the useful space of the floor.
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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