ABU Dhabi's Maximus Air Cargo has expanded its fleet of wholly-owned Russian Ilyushin Il-76TD and Antonov An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft as well as an Airbus A300-600 and a Lockheed L-100-30 (L-382G) Hercules.

This brings the fleet size of this all-cargo airline in the United Arab Emirates to eight aircraft in total.

Established in 2005, Maximus is an operator of outsized cargo aircraft in the Middle East. It said in a statement that its plans are firmly focused on adding additional all-cargo aircraft to its fleet and expanding its portfolio in the aviation support services.

Employing more than 100 people, Maximus manages the air transport needs and logistics solutions of royalty, governments, multi-national companies and humanitarian/relief organisations.

Maximus' Hercules is a stretched civilian variant of the military C-130 and it brings with it the capability to operate from unprepared runways with a take-off run of around 1,200-metres.