There have been rumours about SN BA wanting to acquire Boeing 747-400 pax/cargo planes for use on the African routes, and this possibility was indeed investigated (I can assure you from a reliable source) but rejected because the training costs for crews etc would be too high compared to the advantage they would have of flying a combined pax/cargo plane.
Shame, would have been great to see 747's on a regular basis at Pier B...
@ V-Bird, nope, the only long-haul combi-aircraft I can come up with is the B747, there are no other ones. Or one should need to design a conversion kit for other types. I'm not totally sure if the B747 is the only combi, I guess others can confirm?
Actually, it was time for the 744 combi. It's not too big, KLM operates the biggest fleet of 744 combi's in the world, and they have about the same pax capacity as the A333 currently operated by SN, but in addition to that they can take 6 cargo pallets. SN would have no trouble filling an aircraft in that configuration, since their A333's are mostly fully booked anyway and they needed a way to take more cargo. Maybe an idea for a new belgian carrier!
:censored: you speak with little knowledge on this subject, besides it's not a rumour but a fact! When SN wanted to expand their African network they investigated all possible options. One of them was a Boeing 747-400 or a 747 combi-version, but due to high operational and training costs the investment proved not to be profitable.
Hey Dude 320, just now that TUI stumbled accross the Phuket Airline contract - with 747's, I would not be surprised if we would see Emirates taking many TUI passengers on its future fleet of A-380's - from Frankfurt, and who knows, even from Düsseldorf?
SNBA is for the moment investigating if they can expand there fleet and destinations. But there is nothing known what or where. They can nothing confirm.
But it's very unlikely that they will begin cargoflights.
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