Chapman Freeborn and Air Cargo International (ACI) have successfully completed a high-profile Antonov AN-225 charter to transport five giant compressors totalling 140 tons from South Korea to France. The flight - which departed from Incheon International Airport - represents the first time the world's largest fixed-wing aircraft has been used for an operation to EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. Chapman Freeborn’s Paris office chartered the AN-225 freighter from Antonov Airlines and worked in close partnership with Air Cargo International (ACI) to coordinate the heavy lift project. With the assistance of colleagues from Germany, Chapman Freeborn’s French team provided full airport representation for the charter - including overseeing the successful offload of the 30 ton pieces using a crane. Giorgio Monti, Chapman Freeborn cargo charter manager, said: “We’re delighted to have worked together with ACI to successfully deliver this outsize cargo movement, on time and within budget. We're also proud to be the first company to bring the AN-225 freighter to Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg and we would like to extend our thanks to the airport for helping to make this cargo charter operation a success.” Chapman Freeborn has worked with the AN-225 freighter on several high-profile projects in the past - including its first ever commercial flight to South America, completed in 2010 on behalf of the Brazilian oil giant Petrobras. The unique AN-225 can carry payloads of up to 250 tons and was originally developed by Antonov Design Bureau in the 1980s to transport the Soviet Union’s Buran spacecraft. The model is an enlargement of the successful Antonov AN-124 freighter - an aircraft type Chapman Freeborn works with extensively to transport heavy and outsize cargo on a global basis.