AirBridgeCargo
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Founded | 2003 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | March 2022 (suspended)[1] | ||||||
Hubs | |||||||
Fleet size | — Parent company Volga-Dnepr Group | | |||||
Headquarters | Moscow, Russia | ||||||
Employees | more than 1300 | ||||||
Website | airbridgecargo.com |
AirBridgeCargo Airlines, LLC (Russian: ООО Авиакомпания «ЭйрБриджКарго»), part of
History
The company entered the scheduled cargo market on 1 April 2004, when the first AirBridgeCargo branded Boeing 747 made its inaugural commercial flight on route from Beijing to Luxembourg.[citation needed]
As of March 2022, AirBridgeCargo was forced to suspend all operations due to
In March 2023, it became known that the company planned to resume flights using Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft. Volga-Dnepr has already begun searching for pilots with appropriate training.[5] However, by late 2023 these plans were abandoned with two Il-96 formerly stored and already prepared for AirBridgeCargo being delivered to Sky Gates Airlines instead.[6]
Destinations
Prior to the suspension of all services, ABC had been present in Asia, Europe and North America. It operates a scheduled freighter route network of 37 destinations as of November 2019 focused on Europe, Asia and the United States.[3]
Fleet
Current fleet
As of March 2024, AirBridgeCargo currently no longer operates any aircraft after returning their fleet to its lessors.[4][2]
Former fleet
AirBridgeCargo formerly operated the following aircraft:[2]
Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boeing 737-400SF | 1[2] | 2015 | 2017 | |
Boeing 747-200F | 5[2] | 2004 | 2012 | |
Boeing 747-300SF | 1[2] | 2005 | 2012 | |
Boeing 747-400F | 12[2] | 2007 | 2022 | |
Boeing 747-8F
|
13[2] | 2010 | 2024 | |
Boeing 777F
|
1[2] | 2020[7] | 2022 |
Accidents and incidents
- On September 11, 2012, an AirBridgeCargo Boeing 747-8F experienced a major engine malfunction that spread a significant amount of metallic debris on the runway. Like in a similar event during pre-flight taxi tests, the low pressure turbine shaft separated and moved the low pressure turbine (by design to avoid turbine overspeed) backwards braking on surrounding hardware.[8][vague][importance?]
- On July 31, 2013, an AirBridgeCargo Chengdu, China, while en route to Hong Kong; the aircraft landed safely at its destination. Boeing and General Electric are working on software changes to mitigate the effects of core engine icing.[9][10][11][importance?]
References
- ^ a b c aircargonews.net - VDG confirms suspension of AirBridgeCargo and Atran operations 21 March 2022
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "AirBridgeCargo Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
- ^ a b airbridgecargo.com - Our network retrieved 27 February 2021
- ^ a b aircargonews.net - AirBridgeCargo applies to return freighters to lessors 1 July 2022
- ^ "Крупнейшая грузовая компания России возобновит полеты после года простоя". rbc.ru (in Russian). 2023-03-28.
- ^ flugrevue.de (German) 4 December 2023
- ^ Derrick, Emily (6 August 2020). "Volga-Dnepr Takes Delivery Of Its First 777F Despite Order Dispute". Simple Flying. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ Simon Hradecky. "Incident: Air Bridge Cargo B748 at Shanghai on Sep 11th 2012, rejected takeoff".
- ^ Guy Norris (September 2, 2013). "Core Engine Icing Strikes Russian 747-8F". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ^ Simon Hradecky (n.d.). "Incident: Air Bridhe Cargo B748 near Hong Kong on Jul 31st 2013, both left hand engines surged at same time, one right hand engine damaged too". Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ^ Polina Borodina (n.d.). "Russia to investigate AirBridgeCargo 747-8F engine incident with Boeing, GE". Retrieved September 2, 2013.
External links
- Media related to AirBridgeCargo Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Official website (in Russian)