Volga-Dnepr Airlines teamed up with Chapman Freeborn Airmarketing to operate a dedicated charter flight to assist refugees at the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. 

Almost the whole camp and neighbouring territories were destroyed by fire, which left over 12,000 refugees without shelter. 

Volga-Dnepr used an An-124-100 for the charter flight to transport 55 tonnes of humanitarian cargo from Vienna, Austria to Athens, Greece. 

“It is heartbreaking to see so many people losing their homes, especially families with kids. We feel that it is our duty to help those in need and guarantee at least the provision of daily necessities. With aligned procedures in place and well-tuned teamwork, we managed to get flight approvals within three days, operate the flight without delay with fast and flawless loading/offloading of cargo,” said Ekaterina Andreeva, commercial director of Volga-Dnepr Airlines. 

Volga-Dnepr has been responding to humanitarian missions and delivering various types of cargo, from food supplies, clothes, instruments and medicines to mobile hospitals, water purification equipment, heavy trucks, cranes and other vehicles. 

This year the company has prioritised humanitarian airlifts as a commitment to support the world in its battle against COVID-19 and delivered almost 6,000 tonnes of related cargo onboard for the first eight months of 2020, representing over a 1000 percent surge. 

With the peak cargo season coming closer, Volga-Dnepr says it is ready to provide solutions to leverage general cargo, e-commerce shipments, high–tech products, and even sophisticated vaccine doses.