April 29 - A Ruslan International AN-124-100 aircraft has flown 65 tonnes of power generation equipment from the UK's East Midlands airport to Conakry in Guinea on behalf of World Charter Services.
Although data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests an easing of the Ebola situation in Guinea, Ruslan said that since the threat still remains, the company took every possible precaution to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its crew during the flight and once the cargo had reached its final destination.
All crew members were kitted out in protective clothing, with a doctor accompanying them on the trip. The flight was also organised so that the time the crew spent at Conakry airport was kept to a minimum. This involved consolidating the cargo into larger units in order to reduce off-loading time.
Additionally, any local staff operating cranes and forklift trucks used to offload cargo in Guinea were required to have medical checks and produce certificates confirming a clean bill of health.
"We are no strangers to delivering heavy and complex cargo to dangerous or uncertain parts of the world," said Michael Goodisman, commercial executive at Ruslan. "The procedures we have developed mean we can carry out our work to the highest safety standards - even into Ebola risk areas."
