Volga-Dnepr Airlines has delivered 11 generators on board a series of six Antonov AN-124-100 flights to increase capacity at the power plant powering Antananarivo.

The flights were completed over a 14 day period from Mauritius to Madagascar on behalf of Turkish freight forwarder, Kupa Proje Tasimacilik Ve Lojistik.

The generators, which weigh 57 tonnes each, will boost capacity of the existing power plant to 120MW, and the project was implemented by Turkish company Aksa Energy, to significantly improve power supplies for the city’s businesses and residents.

Volga-Dnepr’s cargo planning specialists worked closely with experts from ALE, a heavy transportation and lifting company to ensure the most efficient solution for the delivery programme, enabling two generators to be carried on board the AN-124-100 at a time by using special loading equipment.

Volga-Dnepr head of cargo planning centre, Vladimir Bykov says: “In Mauritius, we loaded the generators into the aircraft using an external crane, while in Madagascar the cargo was unloaded directly to trailers to save time and money for the customer.”

“We were able to complete these tasks using loading/unloading technology that was first tested by the airline’s specialists for the delivery of oil equipment to Colombia in 1996.”

ALE sales manager, Johann Van Zyl says: “Volga-Dnepr won this contract because of the quick reactions, accurate information and continued support we and our client received. We look forward to the next project.”