OVER 200 tonnes of concert equipment belonging to singing superstar Beyonce took to the skies today thanks to Stansted s dedicated cargo facility and two specialist Boeing 747 aircraft. Following the completion of her successful shows at London s O2 Arena

OVER 200 tonnes of concert equipment belonging to singing superstar Beyonce took to the skies today thanks to Stansted's dedicated cargo facility and two specialist Boeing 747 aircraft.

Following the completion of her successful shows at London's O2 Arena, the hi-tec staging, lighting and sound gear was packed into seven containers and loaded onto the Evergreen Airlines and Atlas Air cargo planes for the seven-hour trip to New York's JFK Airport.

Managing the huge operation through Stansted was cargo handlers Aviance and Wickes Air Services.

Aviance's station manager, Colin Simmons, said: "It's certainly one of the biggest single cargo movements we've managed but the team here are very experienced at handling high-tec freight such at this.

"It takes around an hour and a half to load each 747 so it requires a real team effort by everyone involved."

The final destination for the freight is New York's Madison Square Gardens, the venue for the megastars next performance later this month.

Stansted Airport's commercial and development director, Nick Barton, said: "With world class facilities and experienced freight handlers such as Wickes Air Services and Aviance, coupled with our close proximity to London and our proven track record, Stansted is ideally placed to manage specialist and high value freight of this nature.

"We are London's second largest airport for cargo and fly 200,000 tonnes of freight to a host of worldwide destinations each year.

"We are committed to building on this success story in the years ahead, including playing an active role in the future at high profile events such as the 2012 Olympics which will present the airport with a huge range of opportunities to showcase our business and operation.