How Many Rolls-Royces Fit On a Freighter?

KLM transported a highly valuable shipment in late February. Not Piet Mondrian paintings this time round, but the kind of super-expensive cars you’d usually only see in a James Bond movie: 8 Rolls-Royces on their way from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Here’s a photo report.

Rolls-Royces in front of KLM freighter

How many Rolls-Royces can you fit on a freighter?

The 8 cars, worth a total of EUR 4.5 million, undertook an arduous journey. They were first brought to Amsterdam from Great Britain by truck. They were already on aircraft pallets, so that they could be loaded straight into the plane without too much hassle. They were then flown from Amsterdam to Johannesburg, where they completed the last 1,400 kilometres of their journey to Stellenbosch by road. All this was arranged by the KLM Cargo team.

Rolls-Royce in front of a KLM freighter

The cars were brought to Johannesburg by a Boeing 747-400ERF. Before being loaded onto the plane, they had to be secured. This includes an inspection for (concealed) substances or items that may endanger flight safety. Examples include fire extinguishers and the fuel tank, which may never be more than a quarter full. The cars are also inspected for any transportation damage.

Rolls-Royces almost ready to go in the plane

A highloader was used to get the cars into the plane.

Rolls-Royce car on the high loader

And so there were 8 Rolls-Royces on board this plane. But you can actually fit 13 on board a Boeing 747 freighter!

 

Rolls-Royce on board the KLM freighter

 

 

 

Rolls-Royces in the KLM freighter

Press launch

The cars flew to South Africa for a press launch. This international press launch took place at the Delaire Graff Estate in Stellenbosch – a truly magnificent and elegant setting, surrounded by spectacular mountains. The ideal spot for a Rolls-Royce launch, if you ask me ;-)

 

Posted by:   Dewi Simon  | 
klm
Join the conversation Show comments

Terje Hitsøy

Fantastic.Very small group can afford to one of these.

Eric Machiels

And the freighter was powered by Rolls Royce?

Marcos

the engines are CF-6 GE

Jan Börger

14 on the inside and 4 on the outside under the wings

Dewi Simon

I’m not sure if the engines are from RR, Jan! I’ll get back to you. Actually only 13 would fit inside our boeing 747!

Kind regards, Dewi

Dewi Simon

Sorry took a while, but the engines are from General Electric.

Kind regards, Dewi

willem heitlager

since when does klm fly with RR?

Henry G

Does the Fokker 70 not have RR engines????

willem heitlager

a 747 of course that’s the one they show very smart i know fokker has RR but not our 747;)

ALNASIR Bhanji

I truly admire each and every female Air hostess and cabin crews. I syrupy Adore them so much from the bottom of my heart and my sincere affection and Love.

Oma Boom

KLM’s B747 fleet is powered by General Electric CF6-80C2B5F engines.
I don’t think RR like this spot to launch anything.

Simon

Why are the cars not covered?

Dewi Simon

The cars wouldn’t be so pretty in the pictures then, don’t you agree ;-)

Madeleine Schouten

24 behind each other

Madeleine Schouten

Correction: 15!!

Félix Maltchinski

You have to be carefull to carry the car way more expensive than my house.

lima

ha eu quero

lima

pode mandar eu quero

Henriëtte

Why didn’t they just fly straight to Cape Town instead of doing the last bit via the road?

Gary Aumais

Because Johannesburg is the international hub

Gary Aumais

You can get 13 in it

jaime

i did not know how but i usedto clean 747sp cockpick and crew cabin.

Samuel

The real question is, how much would 4 trent RR engines cost if you were to power this plane with them, and are they more costly than those RR cars.

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