Air services provider dnata says it has handled more than 5,000 cargo-in-cabin flights in Dubai since March last year.

Some 50,000 tons of shipments have been moved by the company at Dubai International airport in that time.

dnata said it had so far trained more than 500 employees to “safely and efficiently” handle passenger planes carrying cargo only. Procedures across a range of aircraft types were introduced from scratch to facilitate these flights in collaboration with key stakeholders, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and airlines.

Trials were conducted at Dubai International using various loading and unloading methods across both narrow and widebody aircraft. This ensured the “best and safest” procedures to serve cargo-in-cabin flights were identified, dnata said.

“We are proud to reach this memorable milestone in such a short space of time,” said dnata’s divisional vice president for airside operations Paul Littlejohn.

“There was intense demand for airlines to recoup revenue through cargo-in-cabin operations and we needed to be in a position to provide safe and effective ground handling services quickly. Our teams delivered innovative, efficient solutions at great speed while never letting our safety standards drop.

“We continue to work hard to consistently provide the highest level of service and safety to all of our airline customers, every day.”