Fresh and frozen food, beverages and animal transport: some types of cargo can release liquids during the journey.

Inside an aircraft cargo hold, managing those liquids before they reach the floor helps protect a delicate surface and makes post-transport operations easier.

This is the specific application for which Magic developed Cargopad, an absorbent mat designed for use in aircraft cargo holds.

An absorbent barrier for the cargo hold floor

Cargopad is placed on the cargo hold floor to intercept liquids that may be released by the freight during transport.

Its function is to absorb and retain them, limiting their passage towards the surface below. In this way, the mat helps protect the aircraft floor from direct contact with liquids and from the possible effects of prolonged exposure, including deterioration and corrosion.

Managing liquids also has a practical effect on the operations that follow transport: keeping them within the absorbent material can make cargo hold cleaning easier once the journey is over.

Layers and materials designed around absorbency

The mat features a top layer made from Airgel, the airlaid material developed by Magic, containing Spongel, a superabsorbent powder certified OK Compost Industrial.

On the underside, a thin waterproof PE film acts as a barrier, helping prevent absorbed liquids from passing through to the aircraft floor. Absorption capacity reaches up to 4 litres per square metre.

The structure is built around a specific task: managing liquids quickly in an environment where surface protection and practical cleaning requirements have to work within the constraints of air cargo transport.

Formats designed for cargo hold use

Cargopad is available in white and supplied in rolls with a height of 180 cm or 120 cm and a diameter of 600 mm or larger. Custom sizes are also available on request to suit different application requirements.

Cargopad brings Magic’s experience in absorbent materials into a less familiar field: air cargo transport.

It is an application outside food packaging, the sector in which Magic has historically developed much of its expertise in absorbent materials, but it is built around the same technical principle: designing the material around the liquid to be managed, the environment in which it will be used and the function it needs to perform.