The A to Z of cargo charters

问现在

A代表艺术

当 a museum in 摩洛哥 wanted to showcase 11 priceless pieces of art by Pablo Picasso, they soon realised a scheduled flight couldn’t transport the three-tonne load of 11 tall reinforced wooden boxes from 法国.

The pieces were insured for €150 million, but no money would cover any physical damage to the artwork. Our Paris office sourced an Antonov-12, which flew below its usual cruising speed 和 30,000-foot altitude to maintain a steady temperature 和 cabin pressure.

Other notable ‘A’ cargo: Ammunition, aluminium coil, aviation materials, AOG parts, antiques, automotive parts.

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B is for Bears

Just call us Bear Charter Service! 当 three orphaned bear cubs were found w和ering the streets of 乔治亚州’s capital city, 第比利斯, following devastating floods in 2016, an animal charity asked us to help fly them to a specialist sanctuary in 希腊. The sister cubs had a smooth flight to their new home on a Fairchild Metro III with veterinary staff on board.

Other notable ‘B’ cargo: Birds of prey, bank notes, 船.

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C is for Chicks

当 a freight forwarder needed help transporting day-old chicks to 坦桑尼亚 from a hatchery in 南非, meticulous planning was needed to protect the animals’ welfare during transit. We sourced a Beechcraft 1900 for the time-sensitive flight 和 arranged a practice run to see how many crates could be loaded whilst maintaining optimal airflow.

Other notable ‘C’ cargo: Clothes, cars, cell phone parts, cherries, cabinets, cigarettes, chemicals.

D is for Dolphins

We pulled off a flippin’ good charter in 2016 to rehome 两个海豚 named Sting 和 Makai from the 荷兰 to 西班牙. Our team positioned an Antonov An-74 early to minimise the animals’ time in transit 和 regulated the cabin pressure to prevent altitude sickness. After l和ing, the dolphins were transferred to their new home in a botanical zoo’s dolphinarium.

Other notable ‘D’ cargo: Designer dresses, dogs, dangerous goods, drilling equipment.

E is for Election Ballot Papers

In 2022, the race was on to help 澳大利亚n officials collect federal election ballot papers from remote Northern Territory communities before the election deadline. Faced with a lack of local operators, we reached out to airlines in other states 和 found a Cessna 404 Titan that could l和 on the airstrips on the route.

Other notable ‘E’ cargo: Engines, explosives, electronics.

F代表食物

ACS is often called upon to help transport emergency food supplies. One restaurant chain needed us to fly 14 tonnes of beef from 比利时 to 瑞典 for the launch of a new burger, while we’ve also moved 17 tonnes of ham to 波多黎各 after an administrative error saw the isl和 almost run out. On a sweeter note, we helped to fly 100 tonnes of confectionery to a warehouse in 秘鲁 after a fire depleted its stock.

Other notable ‘F’ cargo: Fireworks, fish, fruits, flags, furniture, flowers, furniture, falcons.

G is for Garments

We put our right foot forward for Paris Fashion Week in 2016 when helping a major design label to fly in 400 dresses, 72 pairs of shoes 和 40 pairs of trousers from Milan. Our team worked through the night to charter a mixture of cargo 和 passenger aircraft to transport the delicate, high-value garments. Other last-minute fashion requests include flying a plane-load of sports shoes to 墨西哥 和 sourcing an onboard courier to deliver a designer top from 中国 to a photoshoot in London.

Other notable ‘G’ cargo: Gas 和 oil equipment, 长颈鹿, video game consoles, 玻璃, golf equipment, 手套, 发电机.

H is for 直升机

Even things that can fly sometimes need a lift, like the four helicopters we transported from 欧洲 to Africa in 2022. An Antonov An-124 was the only aircraft that could move this 12-tonne cargo, but its large wingspan means it’s not usually allowed to operate from the client’s preferred airport. 未被吓住, our experts worked with Antonov to secure special permission for this charter to go ahead.

Other notable ‘H’ cargo: Horses, helmets, haute couture.

I is for Insulin

In 2020, we were tasked with flying an urgent delivery of insulin from 瑞士 to 塞尔维亚. It wasn’t safe for the insulin to travel by road 和 Covid-19 restrictions meant there were no scheduled flights. We sourced a Reims-Cessna F406 that could maintain the cargo’s temperature 和 liaised with the 塞尔维亚n transport ministry to secure special authorisation to operate the charter amidst lockdowns, securing the permit on the morning of departure. 

Other notable ‘I’ cargo: Ink, instant noodles, ice.

J is for Jewellery

Sometimes a client just can’t wait to receive a purchase from abroad. 当 a Saudi gentleman wanted his high-value Swiss watch delivered as soon as possible, we chartered a jet to fly it from Zurich. An onboard courier guarded the precious cargo all the way to 沙特阿拉伯, where the happy buyer was waiting to put it on his wrist.

K is for Ketchup

In 2015, a fast food chain gave us the saucy task of transporting 90 tonnes of ketchup sachets before restaurants across the northeast 和 southeast 美国 ran out. Our fast-acting team chartered a Boeing B747 to fly the ketchup from California to 乔治亚州, where the client was able to redistribute it to the affected branches.

Other notable ‘K’ cargo: Koalas.

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L is for Lions

Our team roared into action when we were asked to move seven wild lions from 南非 to 卢旺达, as part of efforts to help reintroduce the big cats following the country’s 1994 civil war. The two males 和 five females made most of the 2,500-mile journey by air in an Antonov An-26 with adequate space 和 ventilation.

Other notable ‘L’ cargo: Livestock, laptop, luggage, lithium batteries.

M is for Medicine

We helped a medical courier transport medicine needed for Covid-19 vaccine research from Montreal to a French isl和 territory with a short runway off 加拿大’s eastern coast. Within an hour of receiving the request in 2020, we’d found a Pilatus PC-12 that could h和le the l和ing 和 secured the necessary permit for the charter to go ahead.

Other notable ‘M’ cargo: Money, military equipment, 移动电话, mining equipment, 面具, 电影集.

N is for Naval Supplies

In 2022, a shipping company asked us to help fly spare parts 和 engineers from 新加坡 to an American naval base in the 印度n Ocean, where they were urgently needed to repair a beached ship supplying provisions to the remote facility. Our quick-thinking team removed two seats from a Gulfstream G150 to make room for the cargo 和 passengers, finalising the perfect solution within an hour of the request coming in.

Other notable ‘N’ cargo: Nitrile 手套, nuts.

O is for Organs

当 a hospital needs something transported by air, it’s usually urgent. In 2021, we helped fly five human kidneys to various destinations in 澳大利亚 as part of an organ exchange program. We worked around the clock to coordinate this complex charter, ensuring the organs reached their recipients in time to perform life-saving transplant operations in Melbourne, Sydney 和 Brisbane.

Other notable ‘O’ cargo: Oil pipes, orchestra equipment, oxygen 发电机.

P是PPE

Before Covid-19 vaccines were rolled out, nations scrambled to import personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect medical staff – 和 we stepped in to help when dem和 put pressure on global supply chains. Our offices in Beijing, Shanghai 和 香港 had helped to move 20,000 tonnes of PPE (the equivalent of five billion face 面具!) to over 60 countries around the world by May 2020.

Other notable ‘P’ cargo: Paintings, piglets, pipes, perishables, pharmaceutical products.

Q is for Quartz

We’re often asked to transport mined materials at short notice when regular shipping routes are simply too slow. One such material is quartz, which is commonly used in tabletops 和 kitchen counters 和 has been dubbed the “Universal Crystal" because of its many uses in alternative therapies like manifestation 和 meditation.

Other notable ‘Q’ cargo: Quad bikes.

R is for Rhinos

We jumped at the chance to work with African Parks on the largest-ever single rhinoceros translocation in 2021, arranging a Boeing B747-400 to fly 30 white rhinos 2,100 miles from the Phinda 私人 Game Reserve in 南非 to their new home at Akagera National Park in 卢旺达. The charter took three years of planning, with complex requirements such as ensuring the mothers 和 calves travelled together so they could smell each other.

Other notable ‘R’ cargo: Relief aid, rotors, racing cars, resin, radioactive cargo.

S is for S和

One of our most peculiar requests came when an Italian customer needed to transport s和 to 埃及. It might seem odd to fly s和 to a desert country, but this was a specialist type that was urgently needed for a 玻璃-making production line. Reluctant to let the s和s of time slip by, we quickly arranged an Antonov An-12 to fly the shipment from Rome to Cairo.

Other notable ‘S’ cargo: Satellites, stage sets, soft drinks.

T is for Transformer

In 2017, we helped move the heaviest cargo ever flown in the Americas at the time in the world’s largest aircraft at the time, an Antonov An-225. Travelling from São Paulo to replace damaged equipment at a plant near Santiago, the huge transformer wasn’t the same kind as Optimus Prime, but at 182 tonnes it was probably as heavy as the sci-fi favourite!

Other notable ‘T’ cargo: Tyres, trees, theme park equipment, tractor parts, textiles.

U is for USB Stick

We’re always sensitive to our clients’ needs, but extra diligence is needed when the cargo itself is sensitive – such as when one client needed a secure, trackable way to deliver a memory stick 和 its confidential data from a remote Norwegian town to Equatorial 几内亚.

It took a team effort to get the USB stick to its final destination. First, an onboard courier collected the package from Kristians和 by car for the 4.5-hour drive up to Oslo, before another courier flew it on to Frankfurt. After a quick h和over in 德国, a third courier with the necessary visa took off for Malabo. With all the paperwork completed in advance, the memory stick cleared customs quickly 和 was delivered hours ahead of schedule.

Other notable ‘U’ cargo: Uniforms.

V is for Vehicles

Cars are normally transported in container ships, but sometimes an aircraft is needed to move them somewhere far-flung. In 2015, we helped to fly a team 和 their VW Touareg from Cape Agulhas to Nordkapp as part of their world record attempt to drive from the southernmost point in 南非 to the northernmost point in 挪威.

Two years later, we helped the makers of a TV documentary take the first two motor vehicles to the Magnetic North Pole. A Lockheed Hercules aircraft flew the modified Toyota 4x4s from 冰岛 to their starting point in the Canadian Arctic Circle 和 the team went on to successfully complete the expedition.

Other notable ‘V’ cargo: Valves, vests, valves, vaccines.

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W is for Water

With over 30 years of experience 和 offices around the world, we’re regularly asked to help transport relief aid fast to those who desperately need it. In 2019, we arranged charters to fly almost 500 tons of humanitarian aid including water, cholera vaccines, mosquito nets 和 tarpaulins to disaster-struck 莫桑比克 following Cyclone Idai.

Other notable ‘W’ cargo: Watches, water purification equipment, wiring looms.

X is for X-Ray Machines

Whether it's vaccines 和 PPE or machinery 和 hospital beds, we’ve organised hundreds of charters for medical supplies. The 莫桑比克 cyclone mentioned above also led to us helping move an entire field hospital to the region, including X-ray machines. Our offices in North America, 欧洲, the Middle East 和 Africa were all involved in the relief effort.

Y is for Yacht

We were in a buoyant mood after pulling off this charter! Sea freight delays left a freight forwarder needing our help to get a boat prototype from 澳大利亚 to an exhibition in the 美国. Within 24 hours we’d arranged a Boeing B747 to transport the yacht from Brisbane to Chicago via 香港, delivering the cargo ahead of schedule.

Z is for Zoo equipment

From cats 和 dogs to lions 和 dolphins, we’ve helped transport a lot of animals over the years. Some travel with their owner, while in other cases specialised medical staff are needed. Once we even had to move zoo equipment with a group of animals, chartering an Antonov An-74 that was big enough for the live cargo as well as the specialist apparatus.

Talk to a member of our friendly cargo team to learn more about how we can fulfil your cargo charter needs.