KARACHI: In a first-of-its-kind development for cargo transportation in the country, a retired Boeing 737 was loaded onto a specially designed giant trailer on Thursday to be transported to Hyderabad from Karachi by road.

Officials and sources said that the process originally began in July 2024 when the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sought bids from cargo companies seeking for the transportation of the plane that belonged to a defunct private airline.

“The plane is being taken to the Civil Aviation Training Institute (CATI) Hyderabad where it would be used for training purposes,” said a CAA spokesperson.

Sources in the Motorway Police and National Highway Authority (NHA) said that a cargo company had dismantled the flying wings of the plane and then put it in the specially designed trailer. The wings are being moved in a separate vehicle, they added.

“The cargo is on the move and right now it has made a stop near Nooriabad, some 60-kilometres from Karachi,” said an official. “Such abnormal cargo is not allowed to move in the evening.”

The official said that the trailer would resume its journey on Friday morning and take a couple of hours to reach its final destination.”It’s first-of-its-kind cargo transportation using highway,” the official said.

With seating capacity of 200 passengers, the plane had made its first flight in 1991 and “retired” in 2014 after serving more than 23 years across Europe and Middles East, said the CAA spokesman.

A motorway police official explained that the cargo company, after winning the bid to transport the plane, had sent the request to the NHA, seeking permission to use roads under its administration for the transportation of such an “abnormal load”.

“After that the motorway police headquarters in Islamabad was approached and informed about the planned operation,” he said. “The motorway police then look into the route plan, sets the SOPs [standard operating procedures] and gives traffic management plan. One of the SOPs defines that the trailer carrying the plane would be escorted by vehicles of the cargo company each from front and rare end for safety purposes. Similarly, it’s not allowed to move in the evening.”

The CAA spokesman acknowledged the contribution of logistics department of the Pakistan Airports Authority for its efforts in relocating the aircraft to Hyderabad.

He added that a deputy director-level officer is present with the convoy to supervise the operation.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2024