Volga-Dnepr Airlines’ quick response operations for the oil and gas industry were called into action to ensure the urgent repair of a compressor at Russia’s only natural gas liquefaction plant, Sakhalin-2.

The transportation project required operations using both AN-124-100 and IL-76TD-90VD freighters from the airline’s fleet to move equipment from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Moscow to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on the Russian island of Sakhalin.

Onboard the IL-76TD-90VD flight from Moscow was a 14-ton capacity heavy-duty multi-wheel trailer measuring 20 by 10 by three feet that was used to deliver a new compressor to the Sakhalin-2 site. This coincided with the arrival of 30 tons of special repair equipment carried from Kuala Lumpur on one of Volga-Dnepr’s AN-124 freighters to repair the failed compressor.

“We had to organize this transportation and logistics solution quickly to ensure that the repair equipment needed to restore production was available at the Sakhalin-2 to minimize the plant’s downtime,” said Alexander Guzenko, CEO of TGK Logistics, which organized the flights with Volga-Dnepr. “Once again, thanks to the flawless quality of service offered by Volga-Dnepr Airlines we were able to resolve this urgent issue successfully in a highly time-efficient manner.”

Sakhalin-2 commenced operation after being commissioned in 2009 and has the capacity to produce around 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year.