Korean Air flew its longest non-stop flight since its establishment in 1969 using a passenger plane converted to a freighter.

Its cargo flight KE8047, which left Incheon Airport (ICN) on June 12 at 9:14 pm, arrived at Miami Airport (MIA) after flying 13,405 km for a duration of 14 hours and 42 minutes.

Korean Air’s converted Boeing 777-300ER freighter was used on the direct flight from Incheon to Miami to transport 25 tonnes of Covid-19 diagnostic kits to the Dominican Republic. It operates six regular flights per week to Miami, its air hub for South American routes, and the airline noted that its freighters usually make a stop in Anchorage to refuel and replace crew members.

Also read: Incheon Airport to open ‘cool cargo center’ this year

The flag airline has been using grounded passenger planes for cargo-only flights since last year and has converted 16 passenger aircraft to freighters, including 10 B777s and six A330s, by removing passenger seats. It also installed cargo seat bags (CSB) on passenger seats of two B777s.

From March 2020 to the end of May 2021, the airline has operated a total of 8,300 cargo-only passenger flights. Korean Air says it will continue efforts to alleviate the current logistics crisis by maximising freighter operations and increasing cargo-only passenger flights and chartered flights.