Oversized airfreight for Airbus subsidiary
DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics organized a special airfreight transport: Satair, an Airbus subsidiary and one of the world’s leading suppliers of spare parts for airplanes and helicopters, requested a charter service for an A320 horizontal stabilizer.
The oversized and delicate aircraft part had to be flown from Zaragoza Airport in Spain to Dubai and needed to be handled with extreme care. Moreover, the transport was urgent. After all, an aircraft that cannot fly results in considerable costs.
Teamwork as a success factor
DACHSER’s air and sea freight team in Spain collaborated with a German team to plan the project shipment of the sensitive cargo, right down to the smallest detail. This included establishing a work schedule and precision analysis of the logistics processes. “The key to the project’s success was teamwork,” says Carlos Garcia, Department Head Airfreight at DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics in Spain.
Ground transport from the Spanish city of Getafe to Zaragoza Airport was handled by the customer. At the airport boundary, the DACHSER Air & Sea Logistics team then received the cargo and brought it safely into the airport area and on board the transport aircraft. DACHSER chartered an Antonov An-124, one of the largest aircraft in the world and thus particularly suitable for transporting large goods such as aircraft parts.
An additional two DACHSER employees as well as a representative from Satair supervised the arrival at Zaragoza Airport and coordinated the handling times with the clearance agent and the aircraft operator. Once the 13-meter-long rear stabilizer had been loaded into the rear section of the Antonov An-124, the DACHSER and Satair teams meticulously checked that the large cargo was correctly positioned and secured before giving the go-ahead for it to be flown to Dubai.
Reliability and expertise
“We are proud that Satair entrusted us with such a delicate and time-sensitive transport. With the successful execution of the project, our teams in Spain and Germany have demonstrated a great deal of logistical dexterity,” Garcia says. “When it comes to such special transports, the reliability of the logistics partner is paramount. DACHSER has considerable expertise in the project shipment business and is always ready to support its customers as a service partner."