Award winning private jet company reveals its most unusual charter requests

In the world of private aviation, jet charter can be as much about what you want to travel with as it is your destination. Whether you're relocating and sending your possessions to their new home or sending a beloved collection off to a new owner, a private jet charter can often be a convenient and tailored way to transport your most valuable possessions.

For award-winning charter company Air Charter Service (ACS), these valuables – and the services they provide – can come in all shapes and size. From bespoke onboard courier solutions to luxury holiday packages, ACS' fleet of private and cargo jets is available for any client request – and has now shared its most unusual cargo charters.

Top of the food chain
While lions may be kings of the jungle, ACS encouraged these rare big cats to become king of the skies in 1994, after the company was called upon to transport seven wild lions from South Africa to Rwanda to help reintroduce the species following the country's civil war. Two males and five females took on the 2,500 mile journey – most of it aboard a well ventilated Antonov An-26 aircraft – as part of the conservation project. It is one of many conservation efforts the charter company has taken part in since it was founded in 1990.

On golden sands
Transporting sand to Egypt. It must be the most surprising item to request via aircraft, but it's one of ACS' favourite anecdotes. A glassmaking company required a special type of sand unavailable in Egypt, and so chartered an Antonov An-12 to fly 13 tonnes from Rome to Cairo.

A picture paints a thousand words
A Morocco museum hosted a special exhibition of priceless art by Pablo Picasso, but the art, kept in a Parisian institution, could hardly be transported on normal transport. ACS took on the 11 boxes, weighing more than three tonnes, and arrange special dispensation to fly lower than usual 30,000 feet in order to avoid causing pressure damage to the artwork. >>

Fashion forward
Fashion weeks around the world require a high level of organisation, flare and precision – particularly if you're one of the major labels showing at Milan and Paris in a matter of days. ACS was chartered to fly more than 400 dresses, 72 pairs of shoes and 40 pairs of trousers from Milan to Paris in time for a pivotal runway. Other last minute fashion flights have included transporting big name sports shows to Mexico and sourcing an onboard courier to delivier a designer top from China to a London photoshoot.

In flight meals
On the flip side, fast food is one of the most common – and unusual – requests ACS receives. One international restaurant requested a Boeing 737-300F to transport 14 tonnes of burgers from Belgium to Sweden for the launch of a new burger, as well as enormous amounts of dry ice to ensure the meat didn't defrost in transit. 90 tonnes of tomato ketchup was flown across the USA when branches of a fast food chain ran out along one coast. A Boeing 727 delivered 17 tonnes of ham to Puerto Rico after an administrative error caused the entire island to run out of the popular meat.

Emergency care
An often overlooked area of chartered flights is in the medical profession, where the ability to transport everything from equipment – such as urgent HIV medication from New York to Nigeria – to transplant treatments – including chartering a specialist 'dangerous goods' aircraft to move a radioactive liver cancer treatment from Frankfurt to the UK – could save dozens of lives. One notable patient transport was Eman Ahmed, an elephantiasis patient who flew from Egypt to Mumbai for a life-saving surgery following an online campaign. Ahmed weighed around 500kg due to her condition and required a specialist charter.