Korean Air Seeks to Convert Passenger Jets to Cargo Planes

Korea's flagship carrier Korean Air is moving to convert some of its passenger planes into cargo planes to deal with a precipitous drop in passenger numbers caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

Korean Air is in discussions with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport about removing seats on some of its Boeing 777s and hauling cargo in the cabins starting mid-August, industry sources said on Monday.

If approved, the company expects to add at least 10 tons of cargo volume per flight.

The flag carrier is running less than 20 percent of its usual international flights due to the epidemic.