In what appears to be a daunting task, a Ukrainian carrier, Antonov Airlines has successfully transported dismantled parts of a Phenom 300 (private jet) parts inside it’s AN-124-100.
According to simpleflying.com, the carrier, which frequently transports unusual or outsized cargo, successfully managed the project on just a week’s notice in cooperation with logistics firm DB Schenker.
The jet plane was split into six parts and loaded inside the AN-124-100 with the help of special loading equipment. The cargo was flown from Viracopos, Brazil to Miami, USA, with Antonov Airlines given just a week to plan and execute the operation.
Ivan Bozhko, Commercial Executive at Antonov Airlines, said,
The cargo was packed into six wooden crates, which included 15-meter wing sections and two fuselage sections measuring 12 meters.
Due to the large dimensions of the cargo, ‘special loading equipment designed and manufactured by Antonov Airlines‘ was used to load the cargo into the AN-124-100. Additionally, the operation required the use of two external cranes and forklifts to load and unload the cargo.
Antonov took the project on short notice
Like many urgent cargo operations, Antonov Airlines had to successfully plan and execute the project with very little time to spare. The Ukrainian cargo carrier was recruited for the time-sensitive project with just one week’s notice, working together with German logistics firm DB Schenker.
Alvaro Zanella, Airfreight Business Development and Operations Manager at DB Schenker, said, “It was a really challenging operation due to cargo size and delicacy itself, as well as the short amount of time we had from receiving the demand to accomplishing its required necessity. But thanks to the exceptional DB Schenker Airfreight team along with the expertise of Antonov Airlines’ professionals we were able to deliver such a reliable and successful service to the final customer.”
The cargo was an order for Embraer, and was parts of a Phenom 300 heading to the United States. Antonov Airlines handled the cargo operation with one of its seven AN-124-100 cargo planes. The four-engined aircraft has a payload of up to 150 tonnes and is the second most capable cargo aircraft in the world behind the monster AN-225 Mriya, also owned by Antonov Airlines.
Other interesting AN-124-100 cargo operations
Antonov Airlines has earned a reputation for handling unconventional or time-sensitive cargo operations over the years. Due to the size of its cargo fleet, the carrier is often recruited to transport outsized cargo that won’t fit in regular cargo planes. This includes military helicopters, concrete pumps, racing cars, and even a 1,700-year-old stone obelisk, the Obelisk of Axum, flown from Italy to Ethiopia.
The carrier recently transported urgent mining equipment from Australia to Brazil for Vale S.A, the world’s largest iron ore and nickel company. The entire operation involved three separate flights due to the sheer size and weight of the equipment. Other recent cargo flights include delivering vaccine machinery to the US and urgent oxygen concentrators from Israel to New Delhi.
