Kenya Airways has made history after converting its prestigious Boeing 787 Dreamliner into a cargo plane. KQ’s move is the first-ever cargo conversion to be performed on the Boeing 787 model. KQ will convert two of its Dreamliner planes into cargo aircraft.
Currently, KQ has two freighters at the moment but they cannot be used for long range such as connecting Africa to Europe because of the minimal distance that they can cover.The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued airworthiness certifications for the modified aircraft. The new configuration requires special fire safety precautions and weight-and-balance guidelines.
The conversion comes shortly after the national carrier got the green light to convert their aircraft into freighters to cover up for the low demand from passengers. During the coronavirus lockdown in 2020, Kenya Airways converted some of its Boeing 787 aircraft into freighters, however, they did not remove seats to accommodate more freight. The move could only see the carrier ferry close to 50 percent of goods.
“So far, two lessors have indicated a no objection to the conversion of the B787 Dreamliner aircraft to freighters for a two year period,” Kenya Airways chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka said.
Kivaluka added that the move will have direct impact to the company as it will cut on the cost of maintaining them and paying of lease charges. The airline has about 38 fleets at the moment with nine Dreamliner on its fleet that are mainly used for passenger services.
