Ethiopian Airlines has been a year since it first operated a cargo-only service on a passenger aircraft with its Boeing B787-900.

The flight departed on the 25th of March 2020 from Addis Ababa to Kinshasa carrying more than 16 tons of much-needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other shipments inside the cabin and the belly of the aircraft.

Following the sharp decline in passenger number due to the pandemic, Ethiopian said it swiftly shifted focus to cargo operations and became among the very few pioneers to load cargo on passenger aircraft’s cabin.

In response to the increased cargo demand in the wake of the pandemic, Ethiopian moved to reconfigure 25 of its passenger aircraft into freighters using its own internal MRO capabilities and distributed the much-needed PPE and medical supplies across the globe.

"A year since its first preighter operation, Ethiopian has operated 5,645 Cargo flights on the cabin of passenger aircraft and transported more than 121,750 tons of cargo across its vast global network," it said.

The flights added an immense value to the total of 33,182 flights and 735,869 tons of cargo transported during the period from March 25, 2020, to March 25, 2021.

"Today marks one year since the beginning of our first preighter flight service as a way to manage the unprecedented global crisis. The single preighter flight that started on this day last year has helped our airline navigate the storm so far," said Ethiopian Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam.

"We are extremely honoured to have served our customers during the most difficult times. Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services have been a critical player in the global fight against the pandemic by distributing medical supplies and PPE to places with limited access to transportation," he added.

The Ethiopian Airline chief said since the start of its first cargo flight on  passenger seat last year, the carrier has been increasing its capacity to become an ideal shipment partner of many humanitarian organizations including the WFP.

The airline is currently working in collaboration with UNICEF and Cainiao for the global vaccine distribution.