OREANDA-NEWS. A Volga-Dnepr Airlines' An-124-100 'Ruslan' freighter has landed in the Russian city of Salekhard for the first time, delivering a 26-tonne turbine for the local power plant.

To operate the flight, Volga-Dnepr Airlines and its customer UTair Cargo JSC had to obtain special permission to land at Salekhard Airport. In order to welcome its first An-124, the airport needed to conform to special requirements, including a definite level of fireworthiness and safety precautions.

The turbine for the Salekhard electric power station was moved by ground transport from Ukraine to Ulyanovsk, the Russian city where Volga-Dnepr was founded. In Ulyanovsk, the unique and outsize cargo completed the necessary customs clearance procedures before Volga-Dnepr Airlines' technical crew loaded it onboard the An-124-100 using special equipment.

Salekhard is the second new Russian airport to be served by Volga-Dnepr in 2013. In October, one of its An-124-100 aircraft landed at Khrabrovo Kaliningrad Airport to deliver an 80-tonne mobile power plant.