Ruslan International`s super-heavyweight airlift to Armenia

16-May-2009

Ruslan International’s super-heavyweight airlift to Armenia

Mono-cargo transportation has always been the Antonov 124’s strongest muscle and this was put to the test in May 2009 when Ruslan International commenced the air bridge operation of various heavy outsized components for the Yerevan Combined Cycle Power Plant in Armenia. Working in partnership with GS Engineering & Construction of Korea – one of the largest and most successful power plant design and construction companies in the world, the project involved the transportation of single items of upto 119 tonnes to be transported by the AN124 aircraft with further flights scheduled with the AN225 with even larger and heavier items.

The first flight involved the transport of the heaviest single item to be flown by AN124 aircraft since 2001 with a total payload of 126 tonnes. Such extraordinary transports are rare for the aircraft and the flight required special exemption by Antonov’s General Designer. The flight touched down in Yerevan on schedule with a flawless discharge process using cranes specially brought in from neighbouring Iran for this project. A further seven flights have since been performed by the AN124 from Korea and Germany involving generators, stators, rotors and transformers used in the assembly of the power plant.