An Ilyushin IL 76TD-90VD cargo plane operated by Volga-Dnepr took off on Thursday from Leipzig/Halle Airport (LEJ) for Ashgabat in Turkmenistan with 35 tonnes of vaccines shipments. The vaccines are being transported on behalf of a UN organisation.
“As Europe’s fourth-largest air freight hub, Leipzig/Halle Airport is playing an increasingly important role in transhipping medical relief aid and temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals. We want to further enhance this function and therefore agreed a cooperation arrangement with our partner, the Volga-Dnepr Group, this year too,” says Mario Patyk, Head of Business Development- Cargo/Logistics at Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (Airport Leipzig/Halle).
Volga-Dnepr and Leipzig/Halle Airport airport signed a MoU to strengthen the humanitarian airport hub in March 2021.
The decision comes as a logical step for further development of long-lasting strategic cooperation between Leipzig/Halle and Volga-Dnepr Group. Both parties agree to strengthen their unique services in the Humanitarian sector, shouldered by an expert combination of the ‘carrier-airport’ capabilities. While the Group is ready to ramp up Emergency Logistics Hub with its operational base in Leipzig/Halle, 30+ years of experience and expertise in Humanitarian logistics, a diversified fleet of freighters including ramp ones which are self-sufficient for flight operations to remote or less equipped airports, Leipzig/Halle is ready to offer its beneficial market-driven commercial conditions for export warehousing, long-term storage conditions for emergency cargo and terminal handling package to support the industry.
Volga-Dnepr and Leipzig/Halle will follow the road-map to jointly promote the airport as the Emergency Logistics Hub through the task-oriented marketing campaign, specialised educational workshops, streamlined cooperation with International Non-Governmental Organisations, International Intergovernmental Organisations of Germany, major equipment manufacturers, freight forwarders, and other stakeholders of the sector to foster humanitarian cargo operations ex-Leipzig/Halle.
Two relief aid flights already took off from Leipzig/Halle heading for Windhoek in Namibia in August. The Antonov 124 aircraft were carrying urgently needed medical relief aid, including masks and ventilators, for the country that has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the aid consignment funded by the German government consisted of more than 600 pallets, which were flown to southern Africa by the Russian airline Volga-Dnepr.
