ANTONOV Airlines’ AN-124-100 “Ruslan” chartered for series of flights to carry sensitive cargo from Europe to Canada

ANTONOV Airlines in cooperation with RXO Air Transport successfully performed two transportations of the high-tech CNC machinery from Milan, Italy to Hamilton, Canada on board one of its AN-124-100 aircraft.

The cargo with total weight 169 tons consisted of five pieces including three machines in plastic cover with dimensions 940 x 300 x 370 сm and smaller wooden cases. The high-tech CNC machinery will be used in automotive manufacturing of critical electric vehicle parts in one of the most technologically advanced facilities in the world.

For onloading and offloading the cargo two external cranes were used as well as the special strong and rigid ramp system designed and manufactured by Antonov`s in-house engineers to load heavy and oversized pieces. It provides transportation of a single cargo weighting up to 150,000 kg (330,000lbs) and with height up to 4.10 m (13 ft 5).

“The peculiarity of CNC machinery is its dimensions. It is narrow and high. Therefore, to put it on the loading ramp and secure it inside the aircraft it was necessary to design a special transport frame. The frame had to be universal to use it for the series of scheduled flights. The light weight was the vital requirement for the frame due to the limited payload for transatlantic air transportation”, commented Olha Danylova, Commercial Executive, Antonov Airlines,

“This project is one of the most interesting missions for recent few years. It is pleasure to work with RXO Air Transport`s professionals and perform this dedicated team job.”

Russell Means, Senior Manager International/Heavy Lift, and John Beltsos, Director National Account Management, RXO Air Transport, orchestrated this transport with RXO’s customer and were on-site supervising the offload and delivery to the customer.

"This RXO customer's critical mission required massive capacity and cutting-edge technology, exactly what we deliver," stated Russell Means, "Thanks to teamwork and expertise from RXO Air Transport/Expedite, Antonov and our ground agents, together with the AN-124-100's unique capabilities, this project was successful. As RXO grows, we look forward to provide more air solutions with Antonov for our North America and global customers."