Volga-Dnepr Airlines came to the rescue of heavyweight gold mining equipment bound for Kazakhstan after the shipment got stuck in port.

The total weight of the stone crushing equipment was more than 160 tonnes. The largest single piece weighed over 65 tonnes and measured 6.2 x 5.9 x 4.3 metres.

The special mining equipment was manufactured in Ukraine and the initial logistics plan aimed to complete the delivery to Kazakhstan by a combination of river and road. However, when the shipment arrived at the port of Saratov , a number of obstacles on its planned road journey – notably bridges, electrical power lines and buildings – meant flying the cargo was the only viable solution.

After close co-operation with the St. Petersburg office of leading German logistics company, Rol-Transport, two of Volga-Dnepr’s AN-124-100 heavyweight and outsize cargo aircraft were chartered to complete the delivery. However, with Saratov Airport unsuitable for AN-124 operations, Rol-Transport proposed using the nearby military base at Engels.

When the military base refused to accept civil aircraft, alternative airports were considered, including Ulyanovsk , Samara and Kazan but each still required difficult transportation by road to the final delivery site. After further consultation involving Volga-Dnepr, Rol-Transport and officials from the Russian Air Force in Moscow , the authorities in Engels finally agreed for the two flights to go ahead.

Dennis Gliznoutsa, Group Commercial Director of Volga-Dnepr, said: “This is a perfect example of the type of solution Volga-Dnepr provides for potentially ‘impossible’ logistics challenges. By working closely with Rol-Transport and the air force authorities in Engels and Moscow, we were able to successfully deliver the five individual shipments on two flights and provide a solution that was not available by other transport modes.”

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