This fireside chat recap is from Day 1 of FreightWaves’ Global Supply Chain Week. Day 1 focuses on military, aerospace and manufacturing.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: From Russia, With Cargo
DETAILS: Volga-Dnepr is one of the most unusual specialist, all-cargo airlines in the world. It has a large fleet of Boeing 747s but also some Russian-made aircraft that can handle out-of-gauge cargo or land on smaller airfields under challenging runway conditions. Find out about the company’s role in airlift during the pandemic, and how it applies its Cargo Supermarket approach to find the right solution for shippers.
SPEAKER: Konstantin Vekshin, chief commercial officer, Volga-Dnepr Group
BIO: Vekshin is an air cargo expert with 25-plus years of experience. He joined Volga-Dnepr Group in 1997 and rose from sales executive to vice president of charter cargo operations. Starting in August 2018, he held the position of executive president, charter cargo operations for Volga-Dnepr Airlines and was recently promoted to chief commercial officer of Volga-Dnepr Group.
“The Antonov AN-124 is a lot more self-sufficient, and this is why we have been able to operate this airplane to some very exotic destinations and we had to rely just on the capabilities of this airplane.”
“We want to stay as competitive as we can … . If those financial vehicles are available, we try to take advantage of them.”
“We are still talking to the engine manufacturers trying to see how we are going to service those engines in the future…but otherwise at this point in time, we believe that the continuation of our operations [is] under control and safe.”