AirBridge Cargo , Russia ’s largest international scheduled cargo airline, has taken delivery of a third Boeing 747 freighter in time to meet peak season demand on its main trade lane between China and Europe via Russia .

The airline has signed a long term lease agreement with EAST, managed by GATX of the USA , for the Boeing 747-300SF cargo aircraft that has been converted from passenger configuration by Boeing in Wichita , Kansas . The aircraft, one of only three of its type, was built in 1990 and offers a 30 pallet main deck configuration similar to the 747-400F.

The acquisition of the airline’s third B747F comes at an opportune time as recently concluded negotiations between the Russian and Chinese aviation authorities have resulted in AirBridge securing additional traffic rights to China . This will enable ABC to further increase frequencies to Shanghai and Beijing and open services to new destinations such as Guangzhou and Nanjing .

Stan Wraight, Vice President of Volga-Dnepr Group, said: “Today’s market for airplanes, particularly in the large capacity variant, is very tight. The opportunity to secure this aircraft gives AirBridge Cargo tremendous potential to increase frequencies in line with our customers’ demands. It will also allow greater scheduling flexibility to stabilise our flight network and reliability. It does not stop here, though, and negotiations are underway to add the fourth aircraft as early as January 2006.”

AirBridge Cargo was launched by Volga-Dnepr Group and operated its first Boeing 747-200F flight in May 2004. The airline commenced operations with a second 747-200 in October last year. ABC currently operates six flights a week to Shanghai and twice-weekly to Beijing from Amsterdam and Frankfurt via its Russian hubs in Moscow (Sheremetyevo) and Krasnoyarsk .

In June, Volga-Dnepr Group announced a financial agreement with Ilyushin Finance Corporation to take delivery of two IL-96 freighters to enter service with AirBridge Cargo in 2006 and 2007. Volga-Dnepr is the launch customer for the 92 tonnes capacity IL-96-400T cargo aircraft, which will be used to support ABC’s growing B747 network.

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