Why the world’s largest turboprop Antonov An-22 came to Ostend Airport…

A special delivery needed an oversize charter aircraft to meet timeframe, as a damaged undersea pipe demanded an instant response

Antonov Airlines has a fleet that includes seven An-124-100 aircraft (payload 150 tonnes) and the largest aircraft in the world, the An-225 with a 250-tonne capability, but also the An-22 turboprop with a capacity of just 60 tonnes.

This month, the world’s largest turboprop aircraft carried 30 tonnes of equipment urgently required to repair part of the pipeline between Turkey and Cyprus, at an ocean depth of about 400 metres.

The goods emanated from Belgium. The charter flight from Ostend Airport to Istanbul was arranged by SkyAir Shop Aviation Services and the An-22 positioned for loading in less than 24 hours after confirmation of the charter.

To ensure the safe loading and offloading of this outsized and heavy consignment special loading equipment designed and manufactured by the Antonov Company itself was used. Andriy Blagovisniy, Commercial Director at Antonov Airlines commented:

“Our team did its best to meet the customer’s requirements on urgent delivery and support him on all stages of preparation and performance of the charter flight in such short term.”

And it seems Antonov’s efforts were appreciated with Tekin Ertemel, General Director at SkyAir Shop Aviation Services saying how happy he and his company were to work with such a professional operation which works as a complete team.

Source: Handy Shipping Guide