In one of its biggest-ever air logistics projects, Volga-Dnepr Airlines completed 88 cargo flights carrying more than 6,000 tonnes of equipment to supply the ExxonMobil-operated PNG LNG Project. The airline’s AN-124-100 aircraft operated all of the flights from Port Moresby Airport in Papua New Guinea to the PNG LNG Project’s newly constructed Komo Airfield in the span of 103 days. The aircraft carried equipment for the PNG LNG Project’s Hides Gas Conditioning Plant in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Because each component averaged 60 tonnes in weight, Volga-Dnepr’s engineers created a special loading process to carefully place the pieces of equipment into the cargo hold. Additional work was conducted by the airline to minimize the empty weight of the AN-124-100 aircraft, tooling and packaging equipment to maximize the freighter’s cargo capacity. “This project was complex and an interesting logistics challenge,” Dennis Gliznoutsa, vice president, development at Volga-Dnepr Airlines, said. “Papua New Guinea is a country that has challenging climatic conditions, including highlands with frequent fog. We are proud to have successfully and safely completed this project by overcoming all of these difficulties and by once again demonstrating our expertise in the safe delivery of unique and outsize cargo.” Meanwhile, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, part of Volga-Dnepr Group, took delivery of its fourth new Boeing 747-8 freighter. The aircraft will make its first commercial flight on the airline’s Chicago–Amsterdam– Moscow route, and will then be used on ABC’s existing route network linking Europe, Asia and the U.S. via AirBridgeCargo’s hub in Moscow. “Operating a modern, efficient and ecologically-friendly fleet plays a significant role in increasing the quality of the product we offer to our customers,” Denis Ilin, the airline’s executive president, said. “It also gives AirBridgeCargo Airlines a competitive edge, which will help us achieve stable and sustainable development and maintain our position on the market.”