Double-digit demand growth for ABC

AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) has recorded double-digit demand growth in the first eight months of the year as a result of its entry into new markets.
The Volga-Dnepr Group-owned all-cargo carrier saw tonnage increase by 17% year-on-year to 300,000 tonnes during the first eight months.
In August, tonnage increased by 14% compared with the same month last year to 39,000 tonnes.
Executive president of AirBridgeCargo Airlines Denis Ilin said: “We are exerting our best efforts to maintain the level of growth we achieved in 2014 and to improve this by providing our customers with reliable and efficient transportation services.
“During the first eight months of 2015 not only have we been developing our route network and fleet but also investing heavily in service technology and attracting the best industry experts to support ABC’s clients worldwide.”
Its load factor remained “stable” at 67%.
The airline has been rapidly expanding over recent years. Two years ago its  Sheremetyevo hub had just 180 connections in the summer season, this year it is over 600
The latest addition to its network came in September when it added twice-weekly direct Boeing 747 freighter service to Singapore from Moscow. Singapore is ABC’s ninth online station in Asia.
At the Paris Air Show in June it signed an MoU with Boeing for twenty Boeing 747-8Fs.
To see an exclusive interview with Ilin, click here, or read our special Russia report in next week’s Air Cargo News.