Volga-Dnepr Group was able to demonstrate the unique advantages for customers using its ‘Cargo Supermarket’ service when moving a 41-tonne shipment of marine rescue equipment from Scotland to Perth, Australia.
Initially, the customer planned to use a schedule cargo flight of another airline to fly the cargo from the UK to Melbourne, followed by a seven-day journey by road to deliver the marine equipment to its final destination. However, the week-long ground transportation was far from ideal for such sensitive equipment.
Moving the cargo onboard a dedicated charter flight from the UK to Australia was going to be far more expensive until Volga-Dnepr stepped in with a unique solution combining its in-house scheduled, charter and ground logistics capabilities. This enabled Volga-Dnepr to offer the customer a highly competitive price with the added advantage of being able to deliver the cargo directly to Perth without the need for a long road journey in Australia.
Volga-Dnepr organised the collection of the cargo from the factory in Scotland and trucking of the equipment to Amsterdam to connect with one of AirBridgeCargo Airlines’ scheduled Boeing 747 freighter services from the Netherlands to Singapore via Moscow. On its arrival in Singapore, the shipment was quickly transferred onto Volga-Dnepr Airlines’ waiting IL-76TD-90VD for the final leg of its journey to Perth.
Russell Capper, Director of Aviation Consultants Limited, Volga-Dnepr’s customer for the shipment, stated: “We always aim to deliver a competitively priced and seamless service to our clients and the hybrid option provided by Volga-Dnepr was the perfect solution for this shipment. The combination of Volga-Dnepr’s diverse range of freighter aircraft and global reach meant our client’s expectations were more than exceeded!”
Clair Gunn, Key Account Manager at Volga-Dnepr, said: “This delivery was a perfect example of how we can combine all of the capabilities of our Group of companies to provide the best possible solution for our customer in terms of pricing and service. Our decision to position an IL-76TD-90VD freighter in Southeast Asia means we are able to significantly reduce or even eliminate the cost of positioning an aircraft into the region, which would otherwise be a standard procedure for charter operations. Also, by moving the cargo on a through air waybill, the customer was also able to avoid additional import and export charges in Singapore.”