OREANDA-NEWS. On 05 May 2009 was announced, that AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) celebrated the fifth anniversary of its first scheduled cargo flight.

On April 23, 2004, Captain Vladimir Grebennikov and his crew operated Boeing 747-200 flight VDA222 from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport to Beijing, China – creating another milestone in the history of Volga-Dnepr Group.

This flight was the starting point for further ABC’s development and growth. Today its fleet includes three new Boeing 747-400ER Freighters, one B747-300F and two B747-200Fs operating from major airports in Europe, including Frankfurt and Amsterdam, to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo via hubs at Moscow’s two main airports.

AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) was the first Russia-based airline to start operations on Europe-Russia-Asia air routes using Boeing 747 freighter aircraft and also enjoys strategic partnerships and interline agreements with other major international airlines. It was awarded its own AOC in 2006.

ABC, which began with a team of just 10 people in 2003 and today employs more than 600 personnel worldwide, has recently been honoured with the prestigious ‘Wings of Russia Award’ for ‘Airline of the Year – Cargo Carrier Operating in Domestic and International Air Lines’, contributing the 7th prize of “Wings of Russia award” to collection of Volga-Dnepr group. Success shown by the Group helped the first carrier to become leader in schedule cargo industry among Russian airlines. The airline won the accolade based on its growth and development in 2008 and the balanced strategy applied to its development by Volga-Dnepr Group.