The entire project took just over week and was facilitated by in-house ANTONOV Airlines loading technology.
In order to guarantee precision and efficiency, ground staff at East Midlands used ANTONOV Airline’s purpose-built ramp positioned at an angle of only three degrees to load two tracked crushing machines; the entire process was completed using remote control.
“One of our AN-124-100 Ruslan aircraft flew two 18 metre long crushing machines to be used in mining operations in Gabon, on behalf of our long-standing customer, Bolloré Logistics,” explained Paul Bingley, Commercial Manager of ANTONOV Airlines.
“The project turnaround was only nine days and in that timeframe, we managed to deliver a cost-effective solution by securing special permission for landing in Gabon’s second city, Franceville, which is 600 kilometres closer to the mine than the capital, Libreville.”
The total combined weight of the two machines was nearly 70 tonnes, and precision was a vital ingredient during the loading process.