Air Charter Service has moved almost 400 tonnes of components to finish a power plant in Niger in time for the African Union summit in Niamey.

Four Antonov AN-124s were used for the job, which required moving 10 40-foot containers, each weighing 35 tonnes and an extra 40 tonnes of cargo from France.

Alex Busila, cargo director of ACS France says: “The only aircraft capable of carrying three 40-foot containers of these weights in one go is the AN-124, so it was the natural choice for the flights. The tenth container was accompanied by another 40 tonnes of supplementary outsized cargo necessary for the construction.”

He says the charters flew out of France and were spaced one week apart, starting in mid-May and finishing in mid-June.