Volga-Dnepr Airlines, which transports outsize and super-heavy air freight, has operated three charter flights to India from China, Ireland and Germany carrying out an aid and relief mission to help the nation in its battle against severe COVID-19 resurgence.
Over 200 tonnes of vital medical equipment containing oxygen storing containers, concentrators and cryogenic containers were delivered onboard An-124-100 and Il-76TD-90VD to various parts of India, which is experiencing a shortage in oxygen equipment amid the emerging number of new COVID-19 cases. Upon arrival at the airports, the vital medical supplies were transported to the final destinations to be tested and checked for further use.
Ekaterina Andreeva, Commercial Director of Volga-Dnepr Airlines, highlights: ‘With the situation in India worsening we have started getting charter requests for transportation of ISO tanks. Together with a team of experts from various departments and powered by competence in dangerous goods transportations we were able to advise our customers on loading, packaging, and conditions of tanks. Working in tandem with our long-standing and reliable customers, Chapman Freeborn, Maersk Special Project Logistic team and Air Charter Service India Pvt Ltd, we organized charter flights within the shortest timeframes in line with biosafety requirements and completed another humanitarian mission’.
The carrier has also transported 144 thermo-containers with Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines onboard charter flights of Volga-Dnepr Group’s carriers – AirBridgeCargo Airlines and ATRAN Airlines - to Kishinev (Moldova), Mexico City (Mexico) and Hyderabad (India). Transportation of over 25 tonnes of special cargo has been organized by The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in partnership with DHL Global Forwarding for less than two days with the aim to support national vaccination programmes.