In June 2020, as part of Ireland's response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the largest delivery of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to be flown into Ireland on a single flight was delivered by the Antonov Airlines and their giant Antonov An-225, the only flying example of the worlds largest cargo aircraft.

The aircraft delivered 874,860 medical gowns from China with refuelling and technical stops in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. It was packed with 6249 boxes (140 gowns per box) that took 20 people 15 hours to load by hand. A cargo configured Boeing 737 arrived of a few days ahead of the An-225 with a delivery of 126,000 medical gowns, and these gowns, combined with those delivered by the An-225, were estimated to last for only 12.5 days, such was the usage of gowns at the time in Ireland's hospitals.

The opportunity to photograph the An-225 from the unique vantage point of a helicopter as it departed Ireland was tempting, so questions were asked and after a flurry of emails and phone calls we had a helicopter, and most importantly, we had permission from all the relevant stake holders to take the photos.

On the day that the An-225 was departing Shannon, we arrived overhead the airport just as the crew finished stowing the aircraft's unique towbar and were preparing to close the nose. We flew around the aircraft as it packed up the nose, and taxied to the end of the runway, and prepared for departure. The An-225 sits at the end of the runway for a few minutes and performs checks before taking off, thus presenting another opportunity to photograph it before it departed.

A Big Thank You Goes To....
Antonov Airlines and Signature Flight Support for their permission to take photographs, the Irish Aviation Authority, the Shannon Airport Authority, and Shannon ATC for facilitating our request & their assistance on the day, and Capt. Chris Shiel, CEO & Chief Pilot Executive Helicopters, who provided the helicopter and flew us on the day.