Air Partner, working on behalf of Madauto, successfully helped to prevent a total power blackout in the Madagascan town of Toamasina by delivering a fully-integrated 7,500 kVA standby power system supplied by Cummins Power Generation (“Cummins”).

The densely populated area was suffering from an energy shortfall in late 2014 but proactive action from local stakeholders and fast turnaround times from Cummins and Air Partner ensured the ongoing provision of power to the community.

The system was upfitted in Dubai to withstand the high humidity of Madagascar’s east coast, with components sourced from the Cummins UK factory in Kent. The plane charter was arranged by Air Partner’s office in Paris, which provided a door-to-door service; this involved arranging the transport to collect the cargo from the Cummins warehouse, sorting customs and documentation, and organising a crane to lift and load the generator sets onto the aircraft.

After landing in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, the cargo was directly loaded onto flatbed trucks to complete the final 500km leg of the epic journey. A special ceremony featuring a number of high-ranking dignitaries from the Madagascan government was held in celebration of the swift arrival of the much-needed power system.

Darryn Scheepers, General Manager of Dealer Development in Southern Africa at Cummins, commented: “Following in-depth talks, the order was placed on 25 November and the fully-integrated system, consisting of five individual generator sets, was delivered by 13 December. This is a considerable achievement, only made possible by our excellent working relationships with our regional distributor, Madauto, and Air Partner. Thank you to everyone who made this near-impossible feat a reality.”

Thierry Zemouli, Freight Manager for Air Partner France, said: “This job would have been difficult under normal circumstances, but the time constraints made it even more so. We are delighted that the long hours and hard work put in by both the Air Partner and Cummins teams paid off and we were able to deliver the power system in time to prevent a blackout for the people of Toamasina.”