Condor Airlines removes seats on 'majority' of long-haul aircraft

Condor Airlines has quietly removed the seats on the 'majority' of its long-haul aircraft, the carrier confirms to AeroNewsX.

Condor Boeing 767 landing in Phoenix after a flight from Germany. Photo by Cole McAndrew | AeroNewsX

In a move to boost cargo capacity on board its passenger aircraft, Condor Airlines has removed the seats on board the 'majority' of its long-haul aircraft fleet. This includes a number of Boeing 767s.

The move comes as a result of a significant drop in passenger demand as a result of the coronavirus crisis., With less passenger aircraft in the air, cargo that would normally be transported in the belly of these planes, cannot be moved.

Therefore, airlines like Condor, Lufthansa and Air Canada (among many others) are temporarily removing the seats on board a number of their planes to cater for cargo.

Surprisingly for many, despite demand for pharmaceutical supplies doubling, the IATA has recorded an overall drop in cargo demand. This follows years of stagnated growth within the air cargo sector, explains airline economist Wouter Dewulf in an interview with AeroNewsX.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Condor Airlines has transported more than 118 million masks to Germany. Furthermore, the company has brought one million suits and 30 million gloves.

At the time of writing, 6 Condor Boeing 767s are in the air, either to or from Almaty.

In early April, Condor Airlines celebrated four cargo-only services with passenger aircraft. The airline said it had set up a hub in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to enable crucial air cargo services between China and Germany. Since then, its Boeing 767 aircraft have become a common sight at airports such as Shenzhen in China.