AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) is the first Russian all-cargo airline to
operate scheduled services in Europe, Russia and Asia. The launch of
scheduled services to North America is planned in 2008 in line with ABC's
network expansion and fleet modernization plans.
AirBridgeCargo Airlines was launched in 2002 by Volga-Dnepr Group. Operating
initially as Volga-Dnepr Airlines' scheduled operations division, ABC
started flight operations in May 2004 between China and Europe. Within two
years, AirBridgeCargo had developed into a fully independent airline with a
network covering China, Europe, Japan and Russia.
On October 18, 2006, ABC obtained a Russian Air Operator Certificate (AOC),
thus becoming the second airline in Volga-Dnepr Group. In 2007,
AirBridgeCargo Airlines became the first Russian carrier to join the Cargo
2000 (C2K) quality monitoring initiative - a key pillar of IATA's e-Freight
program. The airline also introduced even higher levels of customer service
and significantly grew its fleet with the delivery of two more B747-200F
aircraft. The latest addition to the fleet of three new Boeing 747-400ERF in
November 2007, February and April 2008 makes ABC the first and only Russian
operator of this extended range modification of the Boeing 747 freighter
family, and opens new opportunities to the airline. The AirBridgeCargo fleet
now totals seven aircraft including three Boeing 747-400ERF. Five more
Boeing 747-8Fs will be delivered in 2010-13.
ABC is run by a multinational team of experienced managers. After the
initial period of accelerated growth in 2004-2007, the company's plans for
2008 are focused on service quality, schedule reliability, network
optimization and operational efficiency.
Team
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Alexey Isaikin, ABC President, also President and the founder of Volga-Dnepr Group of companies. Mr. Isaikin is known to the global cargo industry as a leader of the successful An-124 development project, a skillful manager with strategic vision. It is under the leadership of Mr. Isaikin that the Group has grown into a significant power in the world airfreight industry and developed a reputable brand recognized worldwide.
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Gennady Pivovarov, Senior Vice-President, Production & Engineering, ABC
General Director. Before joining ABC in 2007, Mr. Pivovarov had held senior
management positions in Volga-Dnepr Airlines, covering Operations &
Engineering since 2000.
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Denis Ilyin, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Commercial has worked for
Volga-Dnepr Group since 1995 and was formerly Director Operations at
Volga-Dnepr Airlines. Mr. Ilyin joined the ABC project in February 2004,
taking the position of Director Operations of the 747 fleet. In 2005, he was
promoted to Managing Director of ABC with responsibility for day-to-day
management of the airline, including sales, production and finance. His
current focus is on the long-term strategic development of the airline. |
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Robert Song, Commercial Director Global, Vice-President & Area Manager (Asia
& Pacific). Mr. Song joined ABC from Air New Zealand Cargo, where he was a
regional manager. At ABC, he has responsibility for the achievement of the
airline's short and medium-term commercial objectives, improvement of
service quality and operational efficiency across the ABC network. |
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Katsuhiko Sagami, Vice-President & Area Manager (Japan & Korea) brings in his rich industry experience and knowledge of the region to ABC operations in the very competitive markets of Japan and Korea. |
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Andrew G. Morch, Vice-President & Area Manager (the Americas), former Director Operations, Americas, with KLM Cargo, is currently leading the preparatory work for ABC’s successful entry to the North American market.
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Ludwig Hamburger- Regional Director (Europe, Middle East & Africa). Before
joining ABC in June 2008, Mr. Hamburger held senior executive positions with
Air Canada and Air New Zealand. Accumulated over more than 25 years in air
freight industry, his experience is instrumental for establishing the
competitive standing of ABC in the complex air freight business environment
of the region.
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Elena Gorina, Regional Director, European Russia and CIS, joined ABC from
Lufthansa Cargo where she had held the post of Regional Manager for Sales
Development. Elena's focus is on the fast growing Russia and CIS market-
the area where her knowledge and experience fit perfectly with ABC's
development strategy. |
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Denis Brodnev, Regional Director (Russia- Siberia and Far East) contributes his expertise on developing the ABC’s future main hub in Krasnoyarsk for the company’s global network and providing feeder services to/from the remote regions of Russia- the underdeveloped markets with significant international and domestic growth potential |
Flight network
AirBridgeCargo's present schedule offers 15 flights per week ex-Frankfurt,
Germany, and six services a week ex-Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Russia,
providing daily and twice daily services to Moscow (SVO), two services a
week to St. Petersburg and six flights a week to Krasnoyarsk. As well as its
current three flights a week to and from Japan, AirBridgeCargo operates
seven services a week to and from Shanghai and four flights a week to and
from Beijing (China). It also serves Hong-Kong with seven flights each week.
By combining high quality customer service and a competitive product
offering, the airline is developing its network and flight frequencies in
line with customer demand, based on the strong business relationships
established with major global and regional freight forwarding and logistics
organizations. In the second half of 2008, AirBridgeCargo will start
scheduled operations to the Americas and add a further European gateway to
its network. It is planned that the flight network will develop in three key
directions:
Global network development
Since its inception, AirBridgeCargo has paid great attention to the
formation and development of the airline's global network by building
partnerships and interline agreements with other international cargo
airlines. AirBridgeCargo has interline agreements with a number of airlines
all over the world.
Regional network development
A regional network in Russia, served by Russian-built cargo aircraft, is one
of AirBridgeCargo's unique offerings. Direct access to the fast growing
Russian market via regional airports plays an important role in generating
traffic for the company's services and its business development. The
existing network of ground transportation routes in Russia, China and Europe
also widens the choice of destinations offered by AirBridgeCargo to its
clients.
Development of cargo transportation hubs
To develop the potential offered by Russia's unique geographic position as a
natural crossroads for trade between Europe, Asia and America and to help
further develop the Russian economy, AirBridgeCargo is supporting the
construction of multi-destination hubs in Krasnoyarsk (Yemelyanovo) and
Moscow (Domodedovo).
In 2004, the Krasnoyarsk (Yemelyanovo) hub commenced operation. This hub
offers AirBridgeCargo clients unique transport opportunities through
regional flights in Russia and the CIS countries.
In 2008, the commissioning of the new cargo terminal in Krasnoyarsk
(Yemelyanovo) will allow AirBridgeCargo to launch direct Boeing 747-400ERF
services to the Americas and Southeast Asia from Krasnoyarsk.
