Fast growing AirBridgeCargo beat its annual tonnage record last month, its thirteenth consecutive year of growth, as it continues to expand fleet and network.
The all-cargo airline recorded a 30% improvement in demand in October to 57,608 tonnes bringing its total for the first ten months of the year to 498,177 tonnes compared with its total volumes for last year of 483,000.
The increase comes as the airline takes delivery of new aircraft and therefore continues to add new routes and services.
The new record is based on tonnage flown onboard AirBridgeCargo’s own Boeing 747 cargo fleet and on ACMI partner aircraft.
In September, the airline took delivery of its ninth new B747-8 Freighter, taking its total fleet to 16 747Fs. This latest aircraft was the fifth new 747-8F to join the fleet of Volga-Dnepr Group since it confirmed an order with Boeing for 20 more 747-8Fs in July.
Some of the new destinations added to the carrier's network this year include: Houston, Chongqing, Phnom Pehn, Seattle, London Heathrow and Oslo.
Robert van de Weg, senior vice president, sales & marketing at parent company Volga-Dnepr Group, said: “Our continued strong growth is based on staying close to our customers and ensuring we support them with cargo capacity when and where they most need it.
"In such a challenging air cargo market, it is important to earn customer trust in the quality and reliability of your service and to demonstrate the ability to provide responsive solutions – now increasingly for special cargo categories like pharmaceuticals and off-size cargo.”
