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5 One row of standard Economy seats have been installed at the front of the cabin to accommodate load masters and additional crew . The bespoke cargo hold takes up the remainder of the main deck .
6 European Crew prepare for departure to China while the freight offload and onload is being handled by Bournemouth ’ s Cargo First .
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The nature of the request entailed urgency . The aircraft had to get into service rapidly to transport those vital supplies for the NHS . European Cargo leased out several Airbus A340s to Maltese carrier Maleth Aero to operate under its Air Operators Certificate ( AOC ), as the rigorous process involved in gaining such certificate would take some time for European Cargo itself to complete . The fleet was reregistered in Malta and given registrations fit for the task at hand : 9H-PPE , 9H-NHS , 9H-EAL , and 9H-EAC . Shortly after , all the aircraft were repainted with special liveries featuring color decals paying tribute to the British National Health Service , which was working under immense pressure and risk .
In 2021 , the airline received its AOC from the UK Civil Aviation Authority , enabling it to
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gradually convert its fleet over to the British ‘ G- ’ register while still operating the flights .
Initially , the aircraft operated with their full passenger configuration , with boxes of
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test kits being packed into every space possible : galley storage , overhead lockers , and belted into seats . In response to the lack of air cargo capacity , the European Union Aviation Safety Agency ( EASA ) issued approvals and |