BIFA Awards
where possible, by changing the cargo con fi guration, dismantling or disassembling elements or removing protruding parts.” Therefore, some of the components fl ew on Boeing 747- 400s instead. Besides this, to accommodate the unusual pieces involved in the Thailand–US move, deugro designed customised packaging solutions and loading concepts, such as rotating the spools and fi xing them at a speci fi c angle inside the An-124-100 when they were too tall to be loaded normally even into that aircraft. “Our transport skids held the pipes at the only angle that would fi t. Our engineers created 3D drawings and a model of the hold to work out how to rotate the spool, and then designed the skids,” Kuznetsov explained. It was also necessary to source additional equipment for pre- carriage and for loading the spools at U-Tapao Airport – chosen because there was limited space for loading long pieces at the busy Bangkok Suvarnabhumi gateway. Extra gear included 80-tonne mobile cranes, main-deck loaders and various truck–trailer con fi gurations. Trusted partners Kuznetsov was keen to point out that deugro worked with trusted partners on this project, including Antonov Airlines and Cargolux, as well as local packing, trucking and crane subcontractors in Thailand and the US. Considering the role of air freight – a fast but expensive option – in project logistics, he noted: “For air charters, demand is 90% unplanned. Major transport events are planned with other modes, but disruptive events such as the Red Sea crisis or equipment malfunction do happen.” Kuznetsov expects deugro’s air freight division to remain “extremely busy” on all fronts. “We will grow our presence in every region where we operate and across all the industries we serve – including power generation, oil and gas, mining and renewables,” he said, highlighting the Middle East with its focus on hydrogen, green energy and the development of the new Neom project in Saudi Arabia.
Cargo loading through the rear cargo door at U-Tapao Airport, Thailand
deugro innovates to fl y complex urgent US cargo
When some outsize components were urgently needed to minimise costly downtime at an industrial facility in the US, deugro stepped up. Its work on the project has been recognised with the BIFA Air Cargo Services Award
d eugro USA, in close cooperation with teams from deugro Air Chartering and deugro Thailand, successfully delivered 37 pipe spools with a total volume of 213 tonnes and 1,628 cu m from Thailand to the US on nine charter fl ights. The choice of aircraft was largely determined by the size of the spools, some of which were as long as 36.6 m, some as tall as 4.4 m or as wide as 5.5 m, and some of which had complex shapes to boot. Scarce capacity Capacity on the heavy lift air charter market was scarce (and remains so) as a result of the war in Ukraine. Pavel Kuznetsov, head of chartering, said: “Many An-124 aircraft have disappeared from the market; over half of them were operated by Russian carriers, and we can only work with operators registered in Ukraine – therefore
the number of available tails is limited.” That challenge is still there, Kuznetsov observed, but: “We have got used to it and built stronger lines of communication with the carriers. They let us know when there are gaps or cancellations in their schedules that could help us and our customers. We also try to get away without using the An-124
Pavel Kuznetsov: “Many An-124 aircraft have disappeared
from the market...”
Air Cargo Services
IAG Cargo, the single business combining the strengths of British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus and LEVEL, has sponsored the BIFA Awards for over 30 years. The success of the UK freight forwarding sector remains as important as ever to Britain’s place in international trade. Our sponsorship of these awards underlines our commitment to not only promote the sector, but to continue working closely with the freight forwarding community to deliver more connections and opportunities for global growth.
16 | July 2024
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