EASA extends permitted operating timeframe for temporary freighters

European safety regulators have extended the approval for passenger aircraft to serve as temporary freighters until at least the end of July next year. Several carriers opted to modify cabin interiors to transport cargo to enable passenger aircraft, which would otherwise have been parked, to continue earning revenues during the depths of the pandemic crisis. The EASA permitted the temporary modifications as long as the exposure to risk of a catastrophic cargo fire was mitigated by operational limitations. This risk calculation was based on conservative assumptions of the number of aircraft likely to be converted and the forecast number of annual flight hours for such aircraft, plus the probability of a fire breaking out on board.<br/>