The Volga-Dnepr Group of companies has been often in the news during the past months with regards to their fleet and operational expansion plans. The Group which apart from the AN-124 and IL-76 heavy lift operation also includes Moscow-based AirBridgeCargo and Atrans, as well as London-Stansted based CargoLogicAir, has been moving ahead rapidly during the past five to six years. Now a new service is offered to the market.

Global AOG service put into operation
The Volga-Dnepr Group has now launched a new Aircraft On Ground (AOG) service to assist carriers around the globe who have aircraft stranded because of mechanical problems and the lack of the
necessary spare parts at those locations to quickly rectify the problem.
The VD-group can fall back on their large fleet of AN-124, IL-76, B747 and B737 freighters to handle and carry almost any spare part needed to put a stranded aircraft back into the air. They have
created a new team of experts to monitor and handle such flights which have to be operational within a short period of time if they are used as charters or quick transfer to the Group’s scheduled
services when needed. The company states that AOG spare parts carried on their scheduled services in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, ‘will be confirmed on the first available
flight.’
Volga-Dnepr’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Robert van de Weg, said when commenting on the new service that: “As aircraft operators ourselves and as a provider of transportation and
logistics services to the Aerospace industry for the last 28 years, we know only too well how important it is to have a fast, trackable and managed solution to deal with AOG situations.”

ABC and CLA team up to use SITAONAIR
In other news this last week SITAONAIR announced that they are joining forces with AirBridgeCargo and CargoLogicAir on their so-called Internet of Things (IoT) concept which is seen by them as
being a key development for the air transport sector.
SITAONAIR states that by applying its open platforms approach to delivering bespoke IoT capabilities onboard, SITAONAIR will securely integrate diverse aircraft avionics - encompassing sensors,
connectivity, hardware, applications and more - heightening the potential of the connected aircraft.
This they say works by the collection of IoT data which is provided by OnAsset Intelligence, a SITAONAIR partner, during any given flight. This information is then fed into SITAONAIR’s IoT
gateway and can be used by the carriers to monitor the inflight status of goods onboard. This is seen by ABC and CLA as being very useful for the monitoring of pharma goods and is intended as
being the catalyst for both carriers’ digital pharma service.
John Mc Donagh
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