A 103t turbine rotor has arrived in Yekaterinburg, Russia from Frankfurt, Germany aboard an An-124-100 Ruslan heavy freighter aircraft operated by Volga-Dnepr Airlines.

The rotor was carried using bespoke transportation tooling, and an entire day was required to prepare for offloading of the 103t shipment at Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo Airport. The unloading process itself took some five hours to complete in outdoor temperatures averaging -30°C. Volga-Dnepr’s technical crew used a specially designed ramp and a hydraulic crane with special rails to place the single-piece cargo onto a trailer to be moved from the airport. The ramp was set at the same angle as the aircraft ramp to ensure the safe unloading of the rotor using winches. The airline used a hydraulic crane to lift the heavy cargo onto the 80-wheel trailer positioned parallel to the constructed ramp.

Volga-Dnepr managed the entire end-to-end transportation, including the appointment of a subcontractor to operate the special loading equipment. It also obtained all necessary permits and arranged the delivery of the rotor from the airport to its Sredneuralskaya SDPP installation site.

This was the first time such a piece of cargo had been delivered to Yekaterinburg by air.