1 April 2020: The entire aerospace industry has come together to fight the COVID-19 crisis across the globe. Coming to terms with the current requirement many passenger flights are being converted into temporary cargo carriers to carry essential supplies like medicines, masks, food materials etc. Also, special care needs to be taken so that the passenger seats are not damaged and suitably adapted for carrying heavy load.
Colibri Aero and J&C Aero have come forward to provide specialised universal cargo seat bags for commercial and humanitarian cargo transport inside passenger cabins.
Currently these bags are offered to Airbus A320 FAM aircraft operators.
The Cargo Seat Bag is an EASA-approved spacious 76x76x147 cm (30x30x58 inches) kit for a triple seat, with up to 75 kg (165 lb) of cargo to be stored on the seat and additional 9 kg - under the seat, totalling 252 kg (555 lb) per a triple seat block.
The kit can be easily installed within just several minutes and can include a wide range of cargo types from postal correspondence, household goods, electronics and other commercial cargo to medical equipment and other kinds of humanitarian supplies.
"We started the development of the modification back in 2019, with numerous testing and continuous consultations with both aviation authorities and airlines along the way. In February 2020, amidst the growing concerns over what now is known as the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to put additional resources to the project in order to have a certified modification as soon as possible. We are thankful to our team and European aviation authorities whose close cooperation will allow us to deliver the modification to the market at a time of need," said Laurynas Skukauskas, the Chief Commercial Officer at J&C Aero.
"We are all in this together and we have to help airlines to adapt during these challenging times. While the passenger traffic has drastically fallen, many airlines keep operating their passenger aircraft for cargo deliveries - both ordinary goods and medical equipment like masks, respirators, and other items. Being able to promptly apply temporary modifications for passenger cabins for cargo purposes may allow aircraft operators to increase cargo capacities thus adapting operations to the growing demand for cargo air deliveries between countries and regions," said Andrius Norkevi Dius, the CEO of Colibri Aero.
The kits are developed in compliance with Structural Integrity, Fire Protection, and Emergency Evacuation requirements. All aircraft operators will be supplied with a cargo bag special condition compliance justification matrix, a loading manual and additional documentation required by their national aviation authorities (CAA). The MOD kit documentation will also be supplemented with an EASA Form 1.