Some time ago, some of the economy and business class seats were removed from the Boeing 777 with the registration OE-LPA. Austrian Airlines uses the machine as a so-called “makeshift freighter”. The photos in this article show what it looks like inside and how the “business” has changed compared to “before Corona”.

Most airlines have had a problem since March 2020: The entry and quarantine regulations issued by many governments due to the pandemic have led to a sharp drop in demand - especially on long-haul routes. At the same time, there is always a high demand in the cargo sector, because, for example, goods such as masks and protective gowns are repeatedly flown in from China. The sum of all circumstances led to the fact that numerous airlines decided to remove the seats from their passenger aircraft in order to temporarily fly cargo with the aircraft. The OE-LPA, which was delivered to Lauda Air in 1997 and merged into the AUA fleet, became a "temporary freighter".

Comparison picture: Business class in the OE-LPA “before Corona” and now
The long-haul jet is currently used regularly on the Vienna-Shanghai-Vienna route and brings various goods to Austria. Instead of passengers with masks, it may well be that pallets of FFP2 masks “sit” in business class. The comparison below shows the difference between the AUA business class for passengers (“before Corona”) and the “business class for freight” (currently in the OE-LPA).