Charter Service Niklas skills in great demand after cargo world record

Charter Service Niklas reports a flow of business enquiries from companies and forwarding agents after it coordinated the movement of what is billed as the heaviest single cargo item ever sent by air freight.

Frankfurt-Hahn Airport claimed to have made aviation history when a generator for a gas power plant in Armenia, including loading frame, weighed in at a record 189.98 tonnes and was put aboard an Antonov 225, the world's largest cargo aeroplane.

"The entire cargo item was 16.23 metres long and 4.27 metres wide," says Bernd Niklas of Charter Service Niklas, who has more than 20 years' experience in the industry. He worked with General Transport AG on behalf of Alstom AG (Switzerland) on the commission.

Before being loaded in Hahn, the generator was transported by ship from Rotterdam to Longuich on the Moselle River and from there it was brought to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport by a heavy load transport vehicle. In order to transport the entire gas power plant built by the Alstom company to Armenia, a total of six flights were required, all from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport and some involving the Antonov 225's 'little sister', the Antonov 124.

Niklas says: "We are specialists in organising difficult and heavy cargoes but this was an exceptional assignment that created worldwide interest and brought us a great number of business enquiries. Clients find our in-depth knowledge of Russian aircraft very useful."