ABL has completed a complex heavylift project involving the charter of two AN-124 freighters to transport urgent boiler equipment from South Korea to the US.
Renaud Stiers at ABL said: “The cargo was flown from South Korea to the US and had been made available just before the ‘Golden Week’ in Asia.
“Initial plans for packaging were made to suit the shipment by three full AN-124 chartered freighters and with a concern for cost-optimisation and in joint communication with the air-carriers’ loadmaster and tech-crews, we arranged for the cargo to be repacked suitably for airfreight in order to save one full AN-124.
“By reworking the packaging, the total numbers of crates could be reduced in such way to fit each chartered AN-124 aircraft with two smaller crates flown separately.
The cargo was packed at the Korean manufacturer’s premises and delivered in two separate lots to Incheon International Airport where it was loaded in a direct transshipment on two aircraft.
The Antonov aircraft were flying at a 2-day interval from Incheon to Chicago (ORD) via Anchorage (ANC) for crew-rest and fuel-stop. Once in Chicago, the cargo was delivered to the destination, around 60 miles from the airport.
Excluding the extensive upfront preparatory work involving the suitable crating of the cargo (considering the maximum capacities of plane, the CoG and gross weights of the cargo for stability in the air as well as the capacity of the internal crane of the plane), the cargo was delivered door-to-door in fewer than four days for each aircraft.
