Chapman Freeborn’s An-225 charter for giant compressors

A COLLABORATION between charter broker Chapman Freeborn and multi-modal logistics specialist Air Cargo International (ACI) has successfully completed a high-profile An-225 charter to transport five giant compressors totalling 140 tonnes from South Korea to France.
The flight, from Incheon International Airport, South Korea was the first time the world’s largest fixed-wing aircraft has been used for an operation to EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg.
Chapman Freeborn’s Paris office chartered the An-225 freighter from Antonov Airlines and worked in close partnership with ACI to coordinate the heavy lift project.
With the assistance of colleagues from Germany, Chapman Freeborn’s French team provided full airport representation for the charter – including overseeing the successful offload of the 30-tonne pieces using a crane.
Giorgio Monti, Chapman Freeborn’s cargo charter manager, says: “We would like to extend our thanks to the airport for helping to make this cargo charter operation a success.”
Chapman Freeborn has worked with the An-225 freighter on several high-profile projects in the past, including its first ever commercial flight to South America, completed in 2010 on behalf of the Brazilian oil giant Petrobras.
The unique An-225 can carry payloads of up to 250 tonnes and was originally developed by Antonov Design Bureau in the 1980s to transport the Soviet Union’s Buran spacecraft.