Boeing and AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), part of Volga-Dnepr Group and Russia’s largest cargo airline, recently celebrated the delivery of the airline’s fifth brand new 747-8 Freighter.
“ABC has already experienced the outstanding payload and operating economics of the 747-8 family,” said Denis Ilin, Executive President of AirBridgeCargo Airlines. “We are really excited to receive our fifth 747-8 Freighter.” With its delivery, AirBridgeCargo continues to follow its long-term fleet modernization strategy to further improve the quality of its product. The new aircraft will be used on ABC’s existing route network linking Europe, Asia and the United States via the airline’s hub in Moscow. “AirBridgeCargo is a valued customer that has built a very successful cargo business using 747 Freighters,” said Marty Bentrott, vice president of sales for Middle East, Russia and Central Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “We are confident ABC will maintain its impressive rate of growth as its fleet expands.” At present AirBridgeCargo’s fleet consists of 12 Boeing 747 (five Boeing 747-400ERFs (Extended Range Freighters), three Boeing 747-400 Freighters and five Boeing 747-8 Freighters). The new 747-8 Freighter gives cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any large freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance. It is optimized to provide greater revenue cargo-carrying capability than the 747-400, offering 16 percent more cargo volume while keeping its iconic nose door. With more than 150,000 hours in service, the 747-8 Freighters are achieving performance milestones with customers reporting 1 percent better fuel burn than expected.