The sky’s the limit for MasterMover

With annual passenger numbers of nearly 66 million, it is vital that the airport at Guangzhou in China can rely on a maintenance, overhaul and repair (MRO) infrastructure that runs smoothly and efficiently.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in south China is the third busiest in the country for cargo traffic and the 13th busiest worldwide for passenger handling – which means that reducing engine overhaul times while still maintaining the highest of safety standards can be a real challenge.

As the global skies get busier, reducing wasted time on the ground is a priority across the MRO industry.

Staff working for GAMECO, which provides MRO services at Baiyun, were being asked to move staging and mobile platforms for access to aircraft, as well as heavy aero engines. Using a combination of forklift trucks and physical manual handling, it was time-consuming, dangerous and presented the potential for costly mistakes.

Now, two MT1500+ machines are making all the difference, by allowing a single pedestrian operator to safely and quickly move staging and engines weighing up to 33,000 lbs.

Since the introduction of the electric tuggers, downtime has been dramatically reduced while greater all-round visibility allows precision control when moving high value loads.

Renee Ooi, of MasterMover, said: “There is huge industry-wide pressure to reduce engine overhaul times as safely as possible.

“It’s a busy environment, with a high chance of collision and accidents so a MasterMover electric tugger, where an operator can see exactly where they are going, is ideal.

“Our customer also liked the fact that we were able to supply custom mounting brackets so that couplings can be easily removed and attached on any load, for even more flexibility if needed.”

The MT1500+ uses the principle of weight transfer for superior traction and power, allowing a user to easily push, pull and steer heavy and awkward loads.