However, the dimensions of the special consignment ' 1100x292x323 cm, including the necessary transport cradle ' did not prove a problem during this special transport job for the Antonov 124. The big challenge lay in the total weight of 120 tons at which the special consignment and the requisite loading ramp tipped the scales. Even the world's second-largest cargo plane had to bring all its skills to bear in order to accommodate this heavyweight, which reached the maximum possible load capacity of the heavyweight champion.
The Lufthansa Cargo Charter Agency project team planned the flight down to the very last detail in close cooperation with the consigner and the aircraft operator. Every aspect of the entire logistics chain ' from the designing and construction of a transport cradle that would guarantee absolute stability and optimal weight distribution on board the heavy lift aircraft through to the organisation of the overland transport and the giant cranes needed for loading and unloading ' was organised jointly by the experts. The project team also successfully avoided such unexpected pitfalls as insufficient road conditions for the transport by low loader to the originally scheduled departure airport. Without delay, an alternative solution was found, involving an inland waterway vessel and a heavy load transporter.
Thanks to the exemplary efforts and support of Leipzig-Halle Airport and the handling company Portground, loading of the heavyweight 'cargo passenger' was thenceforth executed speedily and smoothly. The Antonov 124 finally took off on its journey to distant China two hours before the originally scheduled departure time. Alexander Schmidt and Arno Krapohl, who had the final responsibility at Lufthansa Cargo Charter for this very special flight, only had a brief moment to watch the two super-heavyweights take to the sky. Soon afterwards the two men were taken up with making preparations for and supervising the necessary stopovers and the unloading of the aircraft in the Far East.
