Mega Air
Mega Air dives deep behind the scenes of the incredible 6 trillion-dollar air freight industry. Meeting the people, gasping at the extraordinary processes, rejoicing in the peculiar and celebrating some of the more mind-boggling items, transported in aircraft that beggar belief. We witness, among others, the nerve-shredding 36 hour delivery of prime salmon inside the Norwegian arctic circle to Japan's top sushi restaurants, one of the biggest commercial satellites ever built flown to its rocket launch site, 61 top class showjumpers destined for a premier Hong Kong event, the high octane rush to get thousands of Formula 1 components from factory to the season opener in Melbourne, Australia, the world's biggest global air package delivery facility processing over 1 million items and the jaw-dropping Valentines flowers daily air shuttle that fuels the world's biggest flora auction in a building the size of Monaco. As well as revelling in the scale and magnitude of super-sized air freight operations, we see what it takes to run the UK's largest pure cargo air-hub, East Midlands Airport; covering everything from major runway repairs to freighter fire drills and the on-going, surprisingly difficult challenge of keeping the airfield free of pesky birds.
- 2019-2019
- 1 season
- Documentary
Mega Air dives deep behind the scenes of the incredible 6 trillion-dollar air freight industry. Meeting the people, gasping at the extraordinary processes, rejoicing in the peculiar and celebrating some of the more mind-boggling items, transported in aircraft that beggar belief. We witness, among others, the nerve-shredding 36 hour delivery of prime salmon inside the Norwegian arctic circle to Japan's top sushi restaurants, one of the biggest commercial satellites ever built flown to its rocket launch site, 61 top class showjumpers destined for a premier Hong Kong event, the high octane rush to get thousands of Formula 1 components from factory to the season opener in Melbourne, Australia, the world's biggest global air package delivery facility processing over 1 million items and the jaw-dropping Valentines flowers daily air shuttle that fuels the world's biggest flora auction in a building the size of Monaco. As well as revelling in the scale and magnitude of super-sized air freight operations, we see what it takes to run the UK's largest pure cargo air-hub, East Midlands Airport; covering everything from major runway repairs to freighter fire drills and the on-going, surprisingly difficult challenge of keeping the airfield free of pesky birds.
Season 1 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 2019
Episode 1
Episode #1.1
It's roses galore as Mega Air plunges into Amsterdam's Valentines rush as millions of stems are flown in globally, then auctioned in a building the size of Monaco. A top-of-the-range, ground hugging track racing car gives Heathrow handlers the run-around. And a supervisor called Croc gets increasingly snappy during a last-minute East Midlands Airport runway repair.
Episode 2
Episode #1.2
We follow every astonishing step of the 36-hour delivery of salmon from the Norwegian arctic circle to sushi diners in Japan, via Finnair's state-of-the-art cargo cool facility. The gigantic air freighter, the Antonov 124, delivers 30 tons of life-saving pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment. And a trailblazing airport boss goes on one of her infamous airport walkarounds.
Episode 3
Episode #1.3
Mega Air goes air-less, as a commercial satellite air freights to its launch site, then space beyond. Britain's biggest airport for pure air cargo undergoes a mammoth, nerve-jangling main runway overhaul. And we follow the emergency pilots who fly to the rescue of stranded packages for a global delivery service.
Episode 4
Episode #1.4
At Liege airport 61 highly strung show-jumping horses, bound for a prestigious Hong Kong event, causes total mayhem during loading. The Irish Air Corp perform vital UN training by flying a huge engineering bridge via helicopter, and the world's biggest fresh food market is hungry for tonnes for fresh produce flown in to Paris.
Episode 5
Episode #1.5
Mega Air gets privileged access to the world's biggest air package handling facility at UPS Worldport, that ingeniously sorts up to 2 million items per night for worldwide delivery. We hitch a ride on the red-eye mail plane shuttle providing a vital service to the Channel Islands. Britain's busiest pure cargo airport is in full fire drill as fireman tackle a mock air freighter inferno and at Helsinki airport mystery freight provides a shocking outcome.
Episode 6
Episode #1.6
Before lights out to start the Formula 1 season in Australia, Mega Air gets rare access behind the scenes at F1 team Haas as they rush to pack tonnes of cars and gear for air freighting. We roar back into Formula 1's past as former world champion Kimi Raikkonen's car flies to the Middle East and life-saving, temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals are given an almighty battering by the elements on a 6000 mile to Singapore.
Episode 7
Episode #1.7
Mega Air follows the challenging journey of a 55-million-dollar batch of cancer pharmaceuticals, from Northern Ireland to Heathrow, for a flight to the US. An East Midlands Airport wildlife officer gets into a flap trying to scare birds from his runway. Two gigantic stone crushing machines, destined for an African mine, threaten to crush the monster Antonov 124 air freighter. We travel with a pushback driver at one of America's busiest cargo airports.
Episode 8
Episode #1.8
Mega Air gets up close to the most bizarre air freighter on the planet, the bulbous Airbus Beluga, a flying whale that swallows entire aircraft wings. We chart the misfortunes of a wealthy, American classic car enthusiast, airfreighting one of the earliest cars ever built to a famous UK car rally; and, to much fanfare, global mega movers, UPS take delivery of a brand-new Boeing 747-8, the largest freighter made in the US.