Russia-based AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), the scheduled-service subsidiary of Volga-Dnepr Group, reported its October cargo volume up 30% y-o-y to 58,000 tonnes. For the first ten months of 2016 ABC’s cargo volume was up 29% over the same period in 2015 to 498,000 tonnes. But, more significantly, ABC’s ten month total this year is already up 3% over its full-year 2015 total – and 2015’s total was up more than 20% from 2014, which in turn was up 18% over 2013.
Of course, growth at this rate cannot continue indefinitely. At a 30% compound annual growth rate, ABC’s cargo volume would double every three-and-one-half years, and soon AirBridge would be carrying every kilo of air freight in the world. Obviously, at some point, the growth will level out, but even if it averages just 10% annually over the next five years it is easy to see why parent company Volga-Dnepr ordered twenty 747-8Fs last year.
AirBridge currently operates nine 747-8Fs, five 747-400ERFs, and two 747-400Fs, as well as ACMI-leasing two 747-400BCFs from Air Atlanta Icelandic. Of the twenty 747-8F committed to in 2015 and firmed this year, Cargo Facts believes Volga-Dnepr has taken delivery of five, of which four have entered the AirBridgeCargo fleet, while one went to sister carrier CargoLogicAir (registered in the UK, but controlled by Volga-Dnepr boss Alexey Isaikin).
