AirBridgeCargo Airlines, the all-cargo carrier within Volga-Dnepr Group, announced that it has operated a full charter flight from Chicago (US) via Moscow (Russia) to Beijing (China) traveling the distance of over 13,800 km and delivering 425,000 doses of oral vaccines. 

In a statement, it said the flight was organized in partnership with the carrier’s long-standing partner, Kuehne+Nagel.

"Earlier this month Boeing 747-400ERF VP-BIG departed from one of the carrier’s oldest online stations in the USA to deliver 36 tons of sensitive medicines all the way to China," AirBridgeCargo said. 

It added that the oral vaccines were contained in SONOCO Thermosafe EF4100 pallet shippers and transported within +5C temperature environment. Upon arrival in Beijing, the whole batch of vaccines was safely offloaded and trucked to the final destination. 

“The amount of care, attention and dedication that went into this charter operation with our long-standing partner AirBridgeCargo is impressive. The teamwork, coordination, and execution of this charter flight with such sensitive cargo could not have been better, in this crucial time of need,” commented Terrence Sell, global pharma product manager Air Logistics at Kuehne+Nagel.

Yulia Celetaria, global healthcare director of Volga-Dnepr Group, cited Volga-Dnepr’s healthcare logistics competence with the operation.

“During the pandemic, most companies concentrated on COVID-19 related products whereas our Group has done its best to guarantee available capacity for other vital medicines as the lives of many patients with chronic problems were at stake due to supply chains disruptions. By leveraging a healthy balance between non-COVID and COVID related goods we make a world a safer place to live in,” Celetaria added.