When a plane left Malta for Dubai last week, it was carrying an unusual item of cargo: a €225,000 luxury sports car.

The blue Porsche Panamera ‘Turbo S’ was loaded onto the Boeing 777 on Wednesday afternoon, with an Emirates loadmaster flown in specially to oversee the operation.

The transportation of the car was a rare occurrence at Malta International Airport and the first such instance in years.

“It’s not something that happens every day; carrying a car is quite an exceptional occasion,” said Emirates country manager for Malta, Paul Fleri Soler.

Noting it was only the sixth such instance in his 26 years at the company, he called it a “special day” for the team. A busy operation was under way on the runway as a team of Emirates and ground handling staff loaded the luxury sports car into the 340-seat Boeing plane.

The operation marked the start of the car’s 4,000-kilometre journey to Dubai, where it will blend in with the wealth of luxury cars cruising between the city’s glistening skyscrapers.

Fleri Soler said the last time the airline sent a car from Malta was around 10 years ago, when it flew out a Ferrari,  but added that Emirates sent cars in planes almost daily across its global network.

“Normally they’re high-end cars... People sometimes emigrate and take their car with them; it’s their baby.”

Emirates staff told Times of Malta there had even been instances of passengers taking their cars with them on holiday.

Sending a car on a flight costs around €7,000 – and requires special attention. But that’s nothing compared to the cost of a new Porsche Panamera ‘Turbo S’, which retails at over €225,000.

“There are strict procedures to follow, but once you go by those it should be safe,” said Fleri Soler, adding it was important to secure the car and load it with as little fuel as possible for the trip.

The man whose job it is to oversee such procedures is Emirates loadmaster Mohammed Fakhir. He is responsible for making sure cars are fully secured for flying and reach their destinations “without any scratches or other damage”.

Fakhir has been in the role for around two years and flew to Malta specially for the occasion.

“Car loading offers the opportunity to go around the world, meet different people and have different experiences,” he said.

To get it into the hold, the Porsche was loaded onto a metal platform and carried by lift from the side of the plane.

In total, the Boeing 777 – the largest twin jet plane in the world – carried around seven tonnes of cargo, including pharmaceuticals and fresh fish, on Wednesday’s flight, staff said.

Whether the Porsche is prized by its owner for sentimental reasons or taken for another reason is not clear; Emirates staff were not allowed to divulge the information, citing confidentiality.