The titanosaur, Patagotitan mayorum, will be the star of the Natural History Museum’s exhibition, Titanosaur: Life as the biggest dinosaur, which will run from Friday 31 March 2023 to Sunday 7 January 2024 and be the first time a titanosaur has been displayed in Europe.
In November 2022, the Natural History Museum confirmed IAG Cargo as its official logistics partner for the exhibition.
The cast was stored in 32 crates and flew in the belly of 2 British Airways Boeing 787-9 flights, alongside 4 crates of real fossils including a real femur bone measuring more than 2 metres.
Its journey started in Trelow, Argentina, from where the cast travelled to Buenos Aires for its flight to London.
In London, it was transported to a special facility ahead of its journey to the Natural History Museum where it will be re-assembled ready for public display in March.
John Cheetham, Chief Commercial Officer of IAG Cargo, says, “It is a privilege to partner with the Natural History Museum as the custodian of some of the world’s most important scientific artefacts. I want to thank our teams in Argentina and the UK who made this colossal task of transporting a 37-metre dinosaur a reality.”
Alex Burch, Director of Public Programmes at the Natural History Museum, adds, “As one of the largest dinosaurs to ever roam the Earth, it is so important that we are able to showcase this cast to the public, connecting our visitors with nature and inspiring them to care for the large animals we share the planet with today.”
In life, Patagotitan would have measured 37 metres in length, longer than an Airbus A320 and 11 metres longer than Dippy the Diplodocus, and weighted 57 tonnes, more than 9 African elephants and more than 3 times the weight of Dippy.