Passenger jet in Pakistan takes 150-km road trip

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – For the first time in Pakistan's history, a passenger aircraft was transported by road, making for an unusual sight on Thursday.

A retired 240-seat Boeing 737 was moved from Karachi, Pakistan's commercial hub, to Hyderabad on a specially designed truck and trailer. The overland journey covered 154 kilometers in approximately two and a half hours.

The rare event reminded Pakistanis of a similar instance when three Boeing 777s were transported by road through Saudi Arabia's deserts in September.

Before the 110-foot-long, 40-ton jet was loaded onto the trailer, its wings and tail were disassembled and will be transported separately, according to Hummayun Khalid, who oversaw the transfer.

Once reassembled at the Civil Aviation Training Institute in Hyderabad, the aircraft will be used for training airport firefighters.

Although traffic on the Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway was not officially blocked, the transport convoy caused congestion along the route.