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Founded | 2004 | ||||||
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Fleet size | 17 | ||||||
Destinations | 16 | ||||||
Parent company | Volga-Dnepr Group (100%) | ||||||
Headquarters | Moscow, Russia | ||||||
Website | airbridgecargo.com |
AirBridgeCargo Airlines, LLC (Russian: ООО Авиакомпания «ЭйрБриджКарго», Aviakompanija «EjrBridžKargo») is the largest Russian cargo airline and part of Volga-Dnepr Group. It operates scheduled cargo services on routes between Russia, Asia, Europe and North America. All of its flights are operated via Moscow hubs in Sheremetyevo International Airport, Domodedovo International Airport, and Vnukovo International Airport.
The airline was established in 2003 and started operations on 1 April 2004. It was established by charter freight specialist Volga-Dnepr Group as its scheduled freight arm. April 2004 saw the delivery of one of two Boeing 747-200F freighters being acquired from Alitalia. In May 2004 it started commercial operation on routes from Luxembourg to Beijing and Luxembourg to Shanghai via Moscow and Novosibirsk. The second Boeing 747-200 commenced scheduled services in October 2004. Airbridge Cargo began services to Nagoya and Hong Kong after acquiring its third Boeing 747F in 2005.
The company entered the scheduled cargo market in May 2004 when the first AirBridgeCargo branded Boeing 747 made its inaugural commercial flight. This milestone for the Group was the realization of two years of preliminary work to build the airline's fleet, network, management and personnel under its Russian Scheduled Cargo Operation Development Strategy. In November 2006 AirBridge Cargo received its own air operator's certificate.
The airline was recognized as the largest cargo carrier at Frankfurt Airport in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and also was recognized by prizes at the Schiphol Aviation Awards in 2012.
In 2012 AirBridgeCargo was the first Russian cargo airline to operate transpolar flights on the Hong Kong – Chicago route with a stopover in Krasnoyarsk. Such routes save fuel and reduce flight time by 15% compared to flights routed via Sheremetyevo.