IAG Cargo has today announced that it will begin cargo services on its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner this October. With belly-hold capacity of seven pallets and 16 tonnes of lift, the new aircraft is ideally suited to the transport of air cargo. Furthermore, state of the art air conditioning systems on the aircraft allow IAG Cargo to maintain a regular hold temperate to within one degree’s accuracy, making it perfect for the shipment of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals through IAG Cargo’s Constant Climate product.

Steve Gunning, CEO of IAG Cargo commented: “IAG Cargo is in the midst of one of the biggest fleet upgrade programmes in our group’s history. The B787-9 is at the heart of this transformation, delivering more cargo capacity than its predecessors more efficiently and making it well-suited to our belly-hold operations. Through our investment in next-generation aircraft we will continue to be able to offer customers a diverse product portfolio that meets their requirements for extremely high levels of reliability.”

The next-generation aircraft will launch five times weekly on the London Heathrow-Delhi route on October 25. Replacing a Boeing 747 on the Delhi service, customers using this route will benefit from around 17% more capacity on each flight.