RUSSIA-CIS-The Moscow headquartered Volga-Dnepr  group has of course always been primarily known for its airline division which ships project cargoes and heavy lift items around the world on a daily basis. In 2014 however, like so many other freight providers, the company established its own logistics division as part of the company's evolving 'Cargo Supermarket' strategy and service offering. The division is charged with providing in-house ground logistics support for Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridgeCargo Airlines, and also offers direct third party logistics services to outside organisations using all modes of ground transport as well as air transport services contracted from other airlines.

Now the logistics traffic is literally taking off for the company and it has recently organised the delivery of over 190 tonnes of shipments for the project engineering company, Telekom-Zapad, a company for whom Volga-Dnepr's logistics team has so far arranged deliveries stretching over a total combined distance of 71,000 kilometres.

The cooperation started with Volga-Dnepr delivering just a 230 kilogramme shipment of cable samples to Yakutsk in the Russian Far East, located 450 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, using the belly hold cargo capacity of a passenger aircraft. Transportation of further shipments was then completed by road and rail and Volga-Dnepr has since also provided cargo warehousing, packing and insurance services. Georgiy Shklyanik, Head of Logistics at Volga-Dnepr Airlines, said:

"The customer was satisfied with our service performance for the first shipment and returned to us with a requirement for a series of cable shipments for the Yakutsk Fuel and Energy Company. Some 190 tonnes of cable were carried by road and rail from Moscow to Kysyl-Syr and Bolshaya Markha in the Yakutsk region. Most recently we have arranged the trucking of a 5 tonne, outsize, low-voltage switchboard from Minsk, Belarus, to Yakutsk. We are now seeing a growing level of enquiries for our logistics services."

With the burgeoning logistics and freight forwarding business Volga-Dnepr currently has a portfolio of more than 100 customers and draws on the experience of over 120 subcontractors in Russia and the CIS to satisfy demand for its services.

Photo: Volga-DNEPR are maybe better known for shipping the parts other airlines cannot ship-like the wings of a Boeing Dreamliner.