A lone caravan of haul trucks sped through the night, their wheels gliding on the highway to deliver heavy-duty machinery to the newly constructed Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in Sichuan. The virgin airport had an important round of flight tests tomorrow, for which they needed airstairs, airport tugs and tow tractors, ground power units, and passenger shuttles, among other equipment. Leader Mutual Freight’s (LMF) Chengdu office heeded their call.

By June 2021, when Chengdu Tianfu International Airport becomes fully operational, Chengdu will become the third city in China, after Beijing and Shanghai, to have two international airports. A world-class air hub requires world-class machines and logistics. Upon accepting the assignment in April, LMF created a special task force to research the best truck routes, bridge-crossing requirements, and tunnel specifications, measuring all possible tight corners and preparing contingency plans.

For this special round-trip delivery between two airports at the Sichuan capital, LMF Chengdu also reached out to both airlines and equipment manufacturers for more transportation details. The information helped the team figure out how to load and unload the sizeable airstairs without a suspension point.

The requested aircraft ground support equipment departed Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at the dark of the night, bypassing traffic congestion and completing routine security checks to arrive at Tianfu airport one night before the scheduled flight tests. From unloading to re-assembling, the LMF team’s work flow was streamlined and effective.

For the return trip following the completion of Tianfu’s trial flights, the same set of ground support equipment were ferried back to Shuangliu airport according to schedule. The experience gained was worth the overnight packaging, fastening, and long-distance delivery. It was an actualization of our company’s founding creed: “Think as a client, work as a partner.”