LONDON STANSTED: December 03, 2018 Rock-it Cargo recently chartered two Antonov AN-124-100 aircraft to ferry stage and concert equipment between Australia, New Zealand and Japan as part of the final leg of Taylor Swift’s ‘Reputation Stadium Tour’.

The aircraft, which have a payload capacity of up to 120 tonnes, flew nine flights with six taking off from Brisbane airport and three leaving Auckland airport for Tokyo.

“After evaluating all of the aircraft and air carriers capable of fulfilling the operational requirements of our client’s schedule, which required the uplift of 576 tonnes within 36 hours from Brisbane to Auckland, it became clear that the AN-124 was the ideal aircraft,” said Rock-it Cargo CEO David Bernstein.

“The roll-on, roll-off capability of the AN-124 combined with the impeccable planning and coordination provided by Graham Witton and the entire Antonov team resulted in an early delivery of all the gear to the Auckland concert venue,” he added.

Witton, Antonov’s UK managing director, said the AN-124 “was the obvious choice because the equipment that was being transported needed the full floor space that the aircraft can provide.

“We met the challenge of an intense back-to-back concert schedule, and we sent out two crews to Australia to ensure that both aircraft could operate three rotations without any break for 24 hours.”

Western Associates, Air Cargo Partners Worldwide and Flywell Aviation are the general sales agents for Antonov in Japan, Australia and India respectively.