While most heavy lift, project cargo is transported around the globe via ocean transport, heavy lift air cargo airlines take the load to locations that need specialized cargo fast. Consider the following, for example:
When medical equipment from the Netherlands was needed to be sent for humanitarian purposes to support earthquake victims in Islamabad, Pakistan in August, the transport was arranged in close collaboration between Lufthansa Cargo Charter and its parent company, Lufthansa Cargo.
Thanks to close cooperation within the Lufthansa Cargo Group, a flight to haul some 50 tonnes of emergency supplies quickly was organized by the Lufthansa Cargo, which received the inquiry from the United Nations Population Fund, and immediately passed it on to their colleagues at Lufthansa Cargo Charter.
Lufthansa Charter transported the supplies aboard an MD-11 freighter that departed Frankfurt on August 25. The freighter was able to carry an additional load ' a pallet of water purification tablets provided by HelpAlliance, a voluntary and aid organisation set up by staff from all areas of the Lufthansa Group.
When the oil spill crisis occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, then continued on for months, heavy lift air freight forwarder Ruslan International was called in at short notice to arrange for boats designed for the collection of floating waste and liquid from the water surface to be flown to the site. Seven boats were accommodated on the flight, which operated from Nantes, France to New Orleans. The flight was arranged in partnership with Chapman Freeborn Airchartering.
In another example, the devastating earthquake in Haiti drew a huge worldwide humanitarian response that saw vast amounts of supplies and engineering flown to the island to help with the relief and re-construction effort. When Japan's Self Defence Force'offered it's assistance to the rescue and re-building efforts, Ruslan International was called to arrange a series of 12 AN124 flights from Sendai to Port-au-Prince carrying earthmoving equipment and supplies. The flights were arranged through Ruslan International's General Sales Agent in Japan;'Western Associates.
Likewise, Skylink USA, a privately held company headquartered at the Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia known for being a leading provider of aviation and ground logistics in unsecured and hostile environments, operated a DC-10 aircraft out of Miami to Haiti. The cargo consisted of 200 skids of plastic sheeting. The DC-10 was provided to carry the entire load. Skylink coordinated the landing and other necessary permits with the U.S. forces in Haiti for proper delivery of the material.
On a more colorful note, in December, Volga-Dnepr Airlines, headquartered in Moscow, Russia, completed two AN-124-100 freighter flights from Vatry in France to Dakar, Senegal, carrying theatrical stage and sound equipment for the magnificent Festival Mondial des Arts N'gres.
The flights were accomplished within the framework of Ruslan International ' the joint venture established by Volga-Dnepr and Antonov Airlines ' which had been contracted for a series of deliveries to Dakar. Volga-Dnepr's two flights in the program carried stage components and sound equipment weighing some 200 tons to the capital of Senegal.
The customer for the transportation program was Dynami Aviation on behalf of the Directorate of Festival Mondial des Arts Negres. This extremely popular show has been staged since 1966 and is hosted by different African nations. It has attracted a global audience of millions of people since its first production 44 years ago.
Volga-Dnepr currently has 10 AN-124s and three IL-76s in operation. The latest of the new IL-76TD-90s, which have a payload of 50 tonnes, joined its lineup in May 2010, and two more are due in 2011 and early 2012.
AN-124 activity at Volga-Dnepr was largely unchanged from 2009, reports Dennis Gliznoutsa, group commercial director for charters. For 2009, the company reported 69,655 tonnes carried
