Lowry climbs aboard the 'Beast of the Skies'
Onlookers at Shannon Airport were awestruck on Wednesday afternoon as an Antonov An-225 Mriya touched down at Shannon Airport carrying a staggering 129,000kg of Personal Protective Equipment for the HSE. Eamonn Lally and members of his team from the HSE were on hand to welcome the arrival of no less than 1 million gowns for use by frontline medical staff both in the immediate future and as required going forward.
Deputy Michael Lowry was in attendance for the historic event and was invited to board the aircraft after it touched down in Shannon. The Tipperary Deputy was a guest of Thomas O’Neill, Director of West Coast Aviation and Francis Ryan, Director of Co. Meath based Metistechnical. The TD was warmly thanked by those present for his advice and assistance in bringing this mammoth project to fruition.
Speaking at Shannon Airport, Deputy Lowry said that, despite the huge excitement of the arrival of the Antonov An-225, the biggest story of the day was the procurement of one million Personal Protective gowns.
“HSE personnel are to be complimented on sourcing such a huge quantity of PPE equipment, which is so vital to front line staff in the medical service. This consignment of equipment will be available to meet current demand and also be part of the HSE’s plan to build stocks of equipment in the event of any further surge of Covid-19 later this year,”he said.
Due to the sheer size of the ‘beast of the skies’, which has a wingspan of 88m, the same as the width of Dublin’s Croke Park, Shannon Airport was the only Irish airport capable of handling an aircraft of this magnitude. In fact, Shannon Airport has the distinction of being the one of the few airports in all of Europe with a runway capable of landing the biggest aircraft in the world.
As the aircraft roared into sight, Deputy Lowry said he was delighted and privileged to accept the invitation from West Coast Aviation and Metistechnical to be present for the arrival Antonov An-225 Mriya.
“I was happy over the last number of years to be able to support and encourage both West Coast Aviation and Metistechnical. I am pleased that the professionalism and skills of the Directors behind these companies have been recognized with the awarding of such a prestigious contract. It is a major achievement for a small company to be entrusted with arranging the complex logistical details involved in such a major project,” he said.
The Antonov An-225 Mriya was manufactured in 1988 for the Russian Space Programme. It boasts six turbofan engines and has a maximum lift load of some 250,000 kgs a capacity of 1,200 cubic meters, a wingspan of 88m and is 84ms in length. The aircraft is equal to six storeys high, has 32 wheels, is 230 tonnes heavier than a jumbo jet and was originally used to launch the former Soviet Union's shuttles into outer space.
The cargo on board on Wednesday included one million medical gowns. This compares to a capacity to carry 126,000 gown on a B737 airliner. The gowns on board the AN-225 were packed in 6,249 boxes with 140 gowns in each box and the cargo weighed 129,000kgs and filled 920cbm and it took 20 men 15 hours to load the Irish bound cargo.