S7 seeks to repurpose passenger aircraft for carrying cargo amid coronavirus - source
MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - Amid restrictions on passenger flight due to the Covid-19 pandemic, S7 Airlines is seeking to repurpose passenger planes for cargo hauling, a source close to the group said.
"In the current situation, we believe the question of the possibility of shipping certain cargo in the passenger and cargo compartments of passenger aircraft to be important," the source said.
"A technical project is being drawn up and requests have been filed with the manufacturers - Boeing and Airbus," he said. "The plan to provide information this week," the source said.
The S7 press service had no prompt response to a request for comment.
The S7 fleet includes 101 aircraft: 61 Airbus A320 family aircraft, 23 Boeing-737s and 17 regional Embraer planes.
After the suspension of passenger services between Russia and other countries, S7 ceased international flights, with only flights returning Russians from abroad remaining.
S7 is Russia's second largest airline by passenger volume, founded by husband and wife team Vladislav Filev and Natalya Fileva.