The flight in question was National Airlines’ record-breaking cargo flight which set off from Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK), headed for Melbourne (MEL), Australia, covering the 9,849 km distance without a single touchdown in between. That meant the aircraft flew for almost 20 hours solid. The reason for the operation was an AOG (Aircraft on Ground) – meaning an essential aerospace component was required, half-way across the world. Prestwick lent itself to the operation, given that it is close to the part provider (The press release underlines: “The airport sits at the center of the Prestwick aerospace cluster, which brings together aircraft manufacturing, maintenance, engineering, and air traffic management expertise”) and because it has 24-hour operations – no night-flight restrictions – and in-house cargo handling. National Airlines’ longest cargo charter was carried out using its new Boeing 777 freighter, brokered through Golden Aviation.
Jules Matteoni, Chief Executive Officer, Glasgow Prestwick Airport, underlined PIK’s USPs and stated: “Congratulations to our valued partners at National Airlines on this impressive achievement. We believe this flight is also the longest commercial cargo flight operated by B777F anywhere in the world. We are proud to have played our part and stand ready to support urgent charter requirements whenever speed and flexibility are required.”
Alan White, Chief Growth Officer, National Airlines, thanked PIK, saying: “More than record setting, this historic mission further demonstrates the airline’s ability to deliver mission-critical cargo anywhere in the world, combining speed, operational excellence, and global reach. Our flight operations, maintenance, dispatch, and ground teams are equipped to position freighter fleet within hours of a such customer enquiry and execute unique, time-critical missions with exceptional precision.”
David Giles, Director of Operations, Golden Aviation, said: “This was essentially a ‘go-now’ B777F, something that can only be pulled off with all stakeholders coming together to arrange the landing, handling, parking, processing, loading, refueling and slots over the weekend enabling the flight to operate ASAP on the Monday with the aircraft positioning that very next morning. The team at Prestwick delivered a flawless operation from start to finish, ensuring the aircraft was handled efficiently and departed exactly as scheduled. They were a real safe pair of hands throughout, and this time-critical charter simply would not have been possible without their professionalism, responsiveness and willingness to move quickly across every aspect of the ground handling operation. A huge thank you to everyone involved for making this urgent charter a success.”
