Giant plane drops in to shift 90 tonnes of cargo

THIS giant Russian cargo plane made a one-off visit to Doncaster's Robin Hood Airport to shift more than 90 tonnes of heavy duty cargo from Finningley.

By The Newsroom

Published 5th Oct 2007, 14:50 BST

Updated 6th Oct 2007, 10:32 BST

The Antonov 124-100 is the largest commercial freighter aircraft in the world and was hired from Volga Dnepr Airlines of Russia.

It was brought in after Scunthorpe company Euro Plant Supplies were contracted by Australian civil and mining project engineers NRW (Perth) to find them a haul of construction gear.

The load included graders, wheel loaders, compaction equipment and spare parts, for iron ore mining in Africa.

The giant plane was in Doncaster for four hours while its 90 tonne load was put on board.

Group airfreight development manager for Peel Airports, Stuart Sinclair, said: "The UK's newest airport along with their services partners Servisair and Cargo Handling Centre are gradually building a sound reputation for reliability and cost efficient handling of all types of freight and aircraft."

What do you think? Post your comments below.

Doncaster Perth