Asiana Airlines completes transforming cargo carriers to passenger planes

South Korean airline Asiana Airlines Inc. has returned all seven aircraft converted into cargo carriers during the COVID-19 pandemic to passenger planes as passenger travel demand continues to soar.

Asiana Airlines said on Monday that it completed work to reinstall 260 economy class seats on an Airbus A330, ceasing more than two years of temporary freighter operations.

In Sept. 2020, Asiana transformed an A350 for freighter operations which can carry 20 tons of cargo goods to meet the rising demand for cargo flights amid a collapse in international passenger travels.

Since then, Asiana has converted three more A350s and three A330s, which helped it to generate a revenue of 370 billion won ($300 million) by carrying a total of 70,000 tons of cargo through more than 500 flights.

"We have completed additional safety inspections of reinstalled seats for the safety and convenience of passengers. The seven restored planes will be serving Southeast Asian and Japanese routes," said an Asiana Airlines official.

Write to Seo-woo Jang at suwu@hankyung.com