Airbus and Lufthansa Technik (LHT) have signed a cooperation agreement to co-develop temporary “Cargo in the Cabin” solutions for A330s.
This new Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) solution will enable operators to load cargo into the cabins of their A330-200 and A330-300 aircraft.
Under the agreement LHT owns the STC and will provide the modification kits for customers, while Airbus’ role as the OEM includes providing technical data, engineering validations and operational calculations. The procedure consists of first removing the seats and then installing industry standard “PKC” pallets and nets on the main deck.
“This new solution combines Airbus’ experience as an aircraft OEM with Lufthansa Technik’s expertise in managing STCs and aircraft upgrades,” said Daniel Wenninger, Head of Airframe Services at Airbus. “In these times of reduced passenger traffic, our customers are looking for quick solutions to temporarily increase cargo transportation capacity in the cabin.”
This new solution offers a volumetric cargo capacity of around 78m3 on the main deck of an A330-200 with 12 PKC pallet positions and 18 nets. Meanwhile, the A330-300’s main deck cargo capacity will be around 86m3 with 15 PKC pallet positions and 19 nets.
