August 27 - Volga-Dnepr Airlines has safely delivered high-value industrial laser equipment from Sweden to Japan onboard one of its IL-76TD-90VD freighters.
Volga-Dnepr worked together with Scan Global Logistics to transport the 21-tonne shipment, which measured 3.2 m wide by 2.7 m high, from Orebro to Japan, via a maintenance stop in Krasnoyarsk.
The equipment was transported in a special container with holes in it, so that the cargo could be moored in the aircraft, explained Alexey Stepanov, leading engineer at Volga-Dnepr.
In order to load the bespoke container, a special ramp extension that had been developed to load aerospace equipment onto an AN-124-100 freighter was delivered to Sweden from Leipzig, Germany.
Volga-Dnepr explained that the patented ramp extension enables cargoes to be loaded and unloaded within the shortest possible distance of the IL-76's cargo door, improving both speed and safety.
"This cargo was oversize and delicate and needed to be loaded and carried in a temperatures of below 30° C. To meet these requirements, the loading process in Sweden was performed early in the morning, standing time during the maintenance stop in Krasnoyarsk was reduced to a minimum, and the aircraft remained closed while the maintenance team installed equipment to unload the container in Japan. Additionally, Volga-Dnepr organised a ground air conditioning unit to maintain the correct temperature," added Stepanov.
