Roissy/Zurich
On March 23, 2023 the Air France Cargo Teams transported an artwork of a priceless historic value: The Sarcophagus of the Egyptian Pharao Ramses II. This unique object was on a scheduled Air France Flight with an Airbus A350 “Biscarosse” from Cairo to Paris. Ater the arrival in Paris-Charles de Gaulle the Sarcophagus was escorted to the capital city where it will be presented in the framework of the public exhibition “Ramses and the gold of the pharaons”, that opened on April 7, 2023 in the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris.
The sarcophagus of the pharao was presented only one times to the French public 45 years ago and has not left Egypt since. Even though the exhibition will travel to several large cities the world over, the centre piece, the sarcophagus is exclusively loaned to France in order to limit transportation to a minimum. The exposition is for experts and Egyptology lovers a wonderful occasion.
Air France Cargo contributed all and knowhow to the handling of this extraordinary transport and was working together with Egyptian and French experts to guarantee optimal transport conditions for each portion of the trip, at all times including conservation measures comparable to those in Cairo.
Since 90 years Air France Cargo contributes its regocnised technical knowhow for the transport of particularly fragile and valuable works of art. In the past planes of Air France transported:
- 54 works of Pablo Picasso travelling to Los Angeles (USA)
- Pages of an original manuscript of St.Exupéry’s Little Prince, flying from New York to Paris to be presented at the exhibition in Paris “A la rencontre du Petit Prince”, this for the first Time that the manuscript came to France.
- The historic collection of the jeweller Chomet with destination Tokyo (Japan)
- The Tyrannosaurus Rex, named “Trix” flown from USA to Europe.
Air France Cargo disposes of an own tea, for the transport of art works. Such objects are treated with special care because these need adequate surveillance and security. The customers, mostly the most prominent museums of the world, can control the various phases of the transport, from palletising to disembarkation. This side of the group’s activities highlight the role of air transport for the creation of unique connections between people and cultures. In this in this case by transporting the most beautiful works of art in the world to different places in the world, in this case by transporting the most beautiful works of art in the world to different places in the world. So that they can be admired by as many people as possible. The exhibition “Ramses II. and the gold of the pharaons” is scheduled from April 7 to September 6, 2023 in the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris. The Air France Express card is the official partner of the exhibition.
Translation by Virginia F. Bodmer-Altura, Publisher of TextileFuture