September 15 - Ruslan International has delivered 75 tonnes of coil-tubing equipment for the oil and gas industry from London Stansted to Adelaide, to support a drilling programme in the Coober Pedy Basin of South Australia.
The flight was operated on behalf of charterer Airland Logistics, which oversaw all operations in the UK and Australia.
The equipment was urgently needed in order to commence drilling on schedule, and there was not sufficient time available for ocean freight. In addition the largest item of the consignment - a reel weighing 38 tonnes and measuring 3.95 m high - was too large to fit into any other aircraft.
Accordingly the cargo was loaded into an AN-124 freighter, and flown 17,000 km to Adelaide, stopping in Baku, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur and Darwin.
Loading and unloading operations were completed using the aircraft's unique portable ramp system and external cranes.
