Antonov Airlines has transported 80 tonnes of automotive parts from Southeast Asia to the US as manufacturing plants begin to reopen.
The flight saw an AN-124-100 pick up 40 tonnes of in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and a further 40 tonnes in Hanoi, Vietnam, before transporting the parts to Ohio.
It took four days to complete the route with technical stops required in Japan and Alaska to accommodate crew rests and aircraft refuelling before reaching Ohio.
Antonov said there has been an increase in demand across the globe for automotive parts since the beginning of 2021 as vehicle manufacturing resumes after slowing in 2020.
Iryna Kyianytsia, commercial executive at Antonov Airlines, said: "We have seen an increase in demand for automotive cargo, and a double pick-up is not usual in the day-to-day operations of the AN-124-100.
"There were additional challenges ensuring compliance with COVID-19 restrictions in different nations."
Aircraft crew received rapid Covid-19 tests during each rest window prior to receiving clearance to travel to the next technical stop airport.
The flights were chartered by The Flight Lab Aviation Consulting.
"These flights were not your run-of-the-mill charters,” said Adam Green, founder and chief executive at The Flight Lab Aviation Consulting LLC. “Due to the nature of the cargo and the double pick-up in two different countries, the planning had to be precise and executed perfectly.
“All of the cargo was Just-In-Time, to support a large automotive manufacturer; with the help of the consignee V. Alexander in the USA, each flight went off without a hitch.”
