Almajdouie meets aircraft challenge

A retired MD90 passenger aircraft, 43 metres-long and weighing 40 tonnes, has been moved in a complex operation from Jeddah International Airport to Riyadh by Almajdouie Logistics Company (MLC) in Saudi Arabia.

In collaboration with Saudi Arabia Airlines, Almajdouie technicians and engineers, specialising in the field of heavy transport, designed the transportation plan for its final destination at the Saudi Special Forces Training Centre.

To prepare for the journey MLC conducted a series of road tests before preselecting a route that would take the twin-engine, short- to medium-range, single-aisle commercial jet airliner, along approximately 1,200 kilometres of roads over five days.

The challenging move had to overcome the height limitation of the aircraft when placed on the trailers (exceeding 5.5 m). In addition, the cargo had other obstacles, such as the tubualr shape and the location of the wheels, making it difficult to lash to the trailers.

Mohamed Ashfaq, Almajdouie heavy lift manager in the Eastern Region, said, “We had to redesign the trailer by removing the beams and fabricating a special saddle, to reduce the height to meet the bridge’s maximum clearance of 5.5 m.”