Volga-Dnepr Airlines delivers Yamal LNG equipment

The company operated a series of An-124-100 and IL-76TD-90VD charter flights and utilised the scheduled Boeing 747 freighter services run by its sister airline, AirBridgeCargo (ABC), to deliver the equipment.

Volga-Dnepr’s ‘Cargo Supermarket’ service helped Deugro to find the optimal service/cost combinations for the flights, which operated out of Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The project commenced in 2015, with the airfreight part started with two IL-76TD-90VD flights from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport to Sabetta. The first flight contained 46 pieces with a total weight of 29 t. Three weeks later, a second flight carried an additional 31 pieces, with a total weight of 17 t. In November, more equipment for the LNG plant was transported on AirBridgeCargo’s scheduled 747 freighter services from Singapore to Frankfurt and from Shanghai Pudong Airport to Amsterdam, from where the shipments then continued their journey by sea. The most recent flights included an IL-76TD-90VD out of Liege, as well as an An-124-100 out of Dalian, China. Both of these flights occurred at the end of January 2017 and helped to deliver additional vital equipment for the Yamal LNG plant.

Tatyana Arslanova, Vice President of Strategic Management and Charter Cargo Operations at the Volga-Dnepr Group, said: “These air services operated for Deugro support a major ocean freight project carrying cargo consolidated in Europe to northwest Siberia. With the winter season affecting ocean freight operations due to the build-up of ice, the time-critical shipments carried by Volga-Dnepr and AirBridgeCargo are enabling construction of the LNG plant to progress before severe winter weather slows down the project. The sensitivity and high value of the equipment were other factors in the decision to fly the cargo with us. Once again, we have been able to show a major customer the benefits we can offer through our Cargo Supermarket concept, which, given the global nature and complexities of this project, not only provides important cost efficiencies but also a high level of flexibility.”

Deugro was awarded part of the logistics programme for the Yamal project, and has already shipped more than 700 000 t of cargo to module yards in China and the project site in Russia. In addition to organising various air charters using An-124-100, IL-76, and Boeing 747 freighters in support of the project, Deugro has operated 16 voyages by sea to the site through the Northern Sea Route.

Further flights utilising the Volga-Dnepr Group fleet are scheduled for 2017.

In a letter to Volga-Dnepr following the latest An-124-100 flight, the General Director of Sabetta Airport, Leonid Schwartz, said: “On behalf of Sabetta International Airport, thank you to the whole Volga-Dnepr team of professionals for the flights successfully performed on January 22, 2017 on the route Dalian-Sabetta. We wish your company new achievements and the successful implementation of all your plans, and we hope for future cooperation!”

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquefaction/20022017/volga-dnepr-airlines-delivers-yamal-lng-equipment/