Volga-Dnepr Airlines delivered two elephant calves to Russia from Laos. Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith gifted the animals to his Russian counterpart.
The total weight of the valuable cargo was 7.5 tons. The elephants themselves weigh 1 and 1.1 tons, and another ton is their snack of elephant grass and sugarcane. But for the Il-76TD-90VD, this is easy – its maximum load is 50 tons.
Volga-Dnepr clarified that it took the team of specialists no more than two weeks to prepare the flight. Airport high-loader and on-board aircraft cranes were used for safe loading and unloading.
The airline is ready to transport cargo of any complexity to any point on the planet. Recently, the An-124 "Ruslan" delivered a 43-ton stator to the city of Volzhsky. For this, it was necessary to build a reinforced frame with an increased base area to comply with floor loads at the airport.