Eighty new flights of freight-only passenger planes are scheduled to land at Auckland Airport in the next four weeks.
Auckland Airport. Photo: AFP
The drastic cuts to passenger flights because of Covid-19 have resulted in massive reductions in cargo capacity.
Auckland Airport's general manager of aeronautical commercial Scott Tasker said about 80 percent of airfreight to and from New Zealand is usually carried in passenger planes.
"Those reductions [in passenger flights] have resulted in a massive cut in cargo capacity, from 25,000 tonnes in April 2019 to 15,500 tonnes in April 2020.
"If you take an average wide-body plane, there'd generally have been around 320 passengers and 15 tonnes of cargo on board," he said.
*See all RNZ coverage of Covid-19
At the moment, Air New Zealand, Air China, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Fiji Airways, Hainan Airlines and Korean Air are operating passenger aircraft with cargo-only loads to and from Auckland Airport.
They are carrying priority cargo including medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and parcels coming into New Zealand and respiratory equipment and fresh produce heading back out overseas.
The freight-only passenger flights are in addition to the 20 dedicated freighters that land in Auckland each week.
Read more about the Covid-19 coronavirus:
- See all RNZ Covid-19 news
- Your Covid-19 questions answered - from health and jobs to keeping anxiety in check
- A timeline: How the coronavirus started, spread and stalled life in New Zealand
- Covid-19 symptoms: What they are and how they make you feel
- Touching your Face: Why do we do it and how to stop
- Scientific hand-washing advice to avoid infection
- Coronavirus: A glossary of terms
- The Coronavirus Podcast
