The story of an Antonov air charter delivery to VW Germany:

A first-tier OEM based in Nantes – France contacted us: they had experienced serious quality failures on their overnight production.

Now, they have 40 pallets to deliver to Volkswagen Wolfsburg, Germany, by 6 pm that day. Late delivery would mean a line stoppage for the client and heavy delay penalties to pay*.

Heavy load: 40 pallets, 12 tons of automotive spare parts.
Challenge: The Volkswagen factory is 1,300km away. No timely delivery is possible using road transport.

Solution: An Antonov aircraft is chartered right away for the client. The handling agents at the airport load the plane with a full lorry, for a total weight of 12 tons.

In conclusion, the air charter delivery and lorry combination (door-to-door solution) allow us to deliver the goods at VW an hour before the deadline. Mission accomplished.

Interested in knowing more about how to secure your supply chain when a crisis situation occurs? Here’s our own product page for the air charter transportation service.

*According to a study by Nielsen research in 2005, the average cost of a production shutdown in the automotive industry is between $22,000 and $50,000 per minute, or $1 to $3 million per hour of downtime (source).