Antonov Airlines has transported fourteen pieces of mining equipment, weighing 216 tonnes in total, on two AN-124-100 flights from Istanbul, Turkey to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Monrovia, Liberia.

In a statement, it said the 113-tonne cargo for the second flight was safely loaded in minimal time to meet the tight deadline required by the mines, both in the process of expanding operations.

“These two flights from Turkey to Africa were meticulously planned and both flights were completed with maximum payloads on each route,” said Eugene Kiva, commercial executive at Antonov Airlines.

“Antonov Airlines provided the flexibility required by our partner Skyair Chartering to perform these air shipments within the customer’s deadlines.”

The airline made a single technical stop in Algiers, Algeria for the 103 tonne Burkina Faso-bound cargo and two stops in Casablanca, Morocco, and Diass-Thies, Senegal for the journey to Liberia to refuel and provide crew rests.

“As per our customer’s request for the delivery of large quantities of oversized drill machinery in a short timeframe, the two flights provided by Antonov Airlines made sure the needs of the expanding mining facilities were met,” said Tekin Ertemel, Director Business Development at Skyair Chartering.

“Antonov’s AN-124-100s are equipped with ramps, which are ideal to transport heavy and oversized loads safely and easily, contributing greatly to the delivery of a seamless operation.”

Antonov said it has seen an increase in charters for mining projects since the beginning of the year and just last month completed three flights of equipment weighing 370 tonnes to Latin America from Australia.