Breaking news: Air Cargo Germany suspends operations

Air Cargo Germany, which operates a fleet of four freighter-converted 747-400s from its base at Frankfurt Hahn, grounded its fleet last night, apparently at the order of the German aviation regulatory agency. The company sent a brief letter to customers (you can read it here) and obviously intends to restart operations, but it is not clear when that will happen.

Air Cargo Germany (ACG) was in financial trouble a year ago, but received a boost when Moscow-based Volga-Dnepr Group (parent of AirBridge Cargo) bought a 49% stake. Plans have been announced regarding the transfer of some of Airbridge’s more modern 747-400ERFs to the ACG fleet, but so far nothing has been done, and AirBridge itself has shown signs of strain, including deferral of delivery of at least one the remaining two 747-8Fs it has on order.

Little detail of the ACG shutdown is available, but you can read more from our European editor Alex Lennane here, or from the German aviation website airliners.de here.