2003
As part of the program for Volga-Dnepr Group to enter the global scheduled air services market, a corporate decision was taken to launch the Scheduled Cargo Operations (SCO) Project. An international team was gathered for the project, led by Stan Wraight as the Project Manager and Peter Yap as Marketing and Sales Director for Asia and the Pacific (October). Two purchase agreements were drafted with Alitalia for two Boeing 747-200 freighter aircraft required for the start-up phase of the project (December). The airline established within the framework of the project was named AirBridgeCargo (ABC).
January 2004
Volga-Dnepr commenced an extensive personnel training program in preparation for the launch of the SCO Project. Boeing 747-200 maintenance personnel were trained by instructors from Lufthansa Technical Training and eight flight crews completed training at the Lufthansa Flight Training Center in Frankfurt (Germany). A further eight flight crews completed their training with United Airlines in the USA.
April 2004
Volga-Dnepr's first Boeing 747-200F aircraft - acquired from Alitalia and with the tail number VP-BIA - landed at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. On April 23, the Boeing 747-200F operated its first flight under Volga-Dnepr's call-sign on the Moscow-Beijing route.
May 2004
AirBridgeCargo's Boeing 747-200 operated its first commercial flight from Beijing to Luxembourg.
September 2004
ABC took delivery of itssecond Boeing 747-200F from Alitalia.
October 2004
Both Boeing 747-200F’s are in service, operating scheduled flights for AirBridgeCargo in Europe – Frankfurt and Luxembourg; in China – Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin; in Russia – Moscow and Novosibirsk, and, prospectively, Krasnoyarsk. Flight frequency was eight flights a week.
November 2004
On November 10th, AirBridgeCargo launched scheduled flights from Luxembourg to Beijing and Tianjin through Krasnoyarsk International Airport. These airports are served three times a week.
AirBridgeCargo opened a new office at Frankfurt-Main. The Frankfurt team also co-ordinates Volga-Dnepr Group's activity in the German market.