Ruslan operates series of An-124 flights to Uganda

Ruslan International, which manages Volga Dnepr’s and Antonov Airlines’ combined Antonov An-124 fleets, has completed a series 15 cargo flights to Entebbe, Uganda, on behalf of the Japanese peacekeeping contingent of the United Nations Mission in Sudan. The flights contained power generators, non-combat vehicles, communication equipment and other supplies for the Japan Ground Self Defense Force.

Once the supplies arrived in Uganda, the freight was transported to the JGSDF in southern Sudan by smaller aircraft and trucks.

Michael Goodisman, business development manager of Ruslan International, praised the entire flight series for going off without a hitch. “The An-124 once again came into its own because of the variety and bulk of many of the items being moved,” Goodisman said in a statement.

“The large fleet at our disposal also enabled us to provide the assurance of performance that is demanded in large-scale missions such as this,” Goodisman added.

Ruslan isn’t the only company moving supplies to East Africa. Humanitarian organization AEROBridge, which matches aircraft with emergency response teams and humanitarian goods in times of crisis, has been coordinating aircraft space for multiple relief flights to Eastern and Western Africa; these flights are scheduled for the next few months.

Although AERObridge President Marianne Stevenson admits that the crippled economy has affected some companies’ abilities to give, she said her organization’s unique business model has served it well.

“If you can take the space-available concept and plug in what needs to go to certain destinations with transportation that’s free, then the donor dollars of the nonprofits that we work with go much further because they’re not paying for the transportation costs,” Stevenson told Air Cargo World. “It’s a big plus.”

By Kforsythe
25-April-2012