Coincidence?
From 40 kg to 13 Tons in 2 Days (Dubai–Moscow)

#case

It’s interesting how events sometimes unfold. Have you heard of the butterfly effect? The idea that even the smallest changes can lead to significant consequences in the future. We’d like to share one of our cases where a 40 kg shipment eventually led us to transport 13 tons of cargo.

The story began when we received a request from a new client for the transportation of a small shipment from Dubai to Moscow. The cargo was automotive spare parts and was not restricted. The simplest and fastest solution was Air Arabia, departing from a neighboring emirate, which allowed us to avoid obtaining MOFA approval.

However, Air Arabia first requested an additional cargo description and then completely refused the shipment.

We found another option and quickly rebooked the cargo with Oman Air. In addition to passenger flights from DXB, they also operate cargo flights from SHJ on Wednesdays, where MOFA approval is also not required.

Then Oman Air informed us that one of their aircraft was AOG in Hong Kong (AOG — aircraft on ground, meaning the aircraft cannot operate due to technical reasons), and the departure from Dubai was postponed until Sunday.

At the same time, we were in discussions with another new client who had asked us to quote a 13-ton shipment. In fact, starting cooperation with a large shipment is quite difficult. Even when you offer competitive rates, earning enough trust for a client to hand over such a significant volume of cargo is not easy.

It was Thursday. From the client’s feedback, we understood that the most important factor was time — the shipment was extremely urgent. And suddenly, we had exactly the urgent option we needed. Our aircraft was AOG in Hong Kong, and its arrival in Dubai had been delayed until Sunday. In other words, a flight had effectively appeared that had never existed before and would never exist again.

From that point, we had to act very quickly. It was the end of the week, and we had only one day to prepare everything. We confirmed available capacity with the airline, prepared the export documents, and booked three trucks. We worked on the shipment right through Sunday and only relaxed once everything had arrived.

And if it hadn’t been for that small shipment and the first airline’s refusal, we would never have known that the Oman Air flight had been moved from Wednesday to Sunday — and we would never have had this urgent option available.

Big events are often made up of small details.

Our email remains the same — sales@alfa-aviation.ru