April 11 - Antonov Airlines has transported three compressors, on behalf of its customer Kuehne + Nagel in Norway, on one of its seven AN-124-100s, from its UK base at London Stansted Airport to Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea.
The UK-manufactured parts, each weighing 23 tonnes and measuring 6.48 m x 2.84 m x 3.58 m, travelled in modified crates designed to work with the AN-124-100's on-board crane system.
According to Antonov, it is the only airline that carries an adaptor on each of its aircraft, allowing it to extend the lift of its crane system by 10,000 kg (10 tonnes), giving a final lift capacity of 30,000 kg (30 tonnes).
"By modifying the shape of the crates for this operation, we did not need to use additional ramp equipment and did not need to carry extra equipment on the aircraft," said Martin Griffiths, commercial manager who organised the charter. "This resulted in a faster loading process and reduced costs to the customer."
The cargo was delivered to London Stansted Airport using three Jan de Rijk Logistics trucks.
