AirBridgeCargo returns Boeing to China after two years of downtime

AirBridgeCargo, once Russia's largest cargo airline, returned a Boeing 747 to its Chinese lessor after a two-year layover at Sheremetyevo. The carrier has completely stopped flights in 2022 AirBridgeCargo Boeing 747 aircraft

The cargo airline AirBridgeCargo (owned by the founder of the Volga-Dnepr airline group, Alexey Isaikin) returned the first Boeing 747 to its Chinese owner, the lessor BOCA (Bank of CHINA Aviation). A company representative reported this to RBC.

“On March 12, cargo carrier AirBridgeCargo returned the Boeing 747-8 aircraft to lessor BOCA (Bank of China Aviation). The plane with registration number VP-BIN took off from Sheremetyevo International Airport to Shanghai,” the company said.

A RBC source close to the company notes that the second Boeing 747, with the number VQ-BFU, is also planned to be returned to the same lessor. The company did not comment on this information, and also did not specify whether the remaining imported aircraft from its fleet would be returned.

AirBridgeCargo previously operated three Boeings leased from BOCA. The lessor returned one of them back in 2022 against the backdrop of sanctions: the plane was in Hong Kong as of that March.

Due to the non-return of the two remaining planes, Lessor sued the airline in New York COURT in 2023 and won the lawsuit. AirBridgeCargo was ordered to pay $406 million. The company did not specify whether the return of the aircraft would negate the need for this payment.

What is AirBridgeCargo

Until 2022, AirBridgeCargo was considered the largest cargo airline in RUSSIA. In 2021, it accounted for 43% of Russian air cargo transportation, or 639 thousand tons of cargo. For comparison, in 2022, all Russian airlines transported 600 thousand tons of cargo, Rosstat reported .

AirBridgeCargo operated only foreign aircraft manufactured by Boeing. Currently, its fleet still includes 11 cargo Boeing 747-8, four Boeing 747-400 and one Boeing 777, most of which have been stationed at Sheremetyevo Airport for more than two years.

In 2022, the United States included 12 AirBridgeCargo aircraft on its sanctions list of aircraft of Russian operators that are not subject to servicing. Later, the general register was adjusted several times as the aircraft were returned to lessors (lessors). Since May 2022, there have been six ABC aircraft on it (the list was last published in October 2023). All 16 AirBridgeCargo aircraft were still registered in Bermuda as of January 2024 (the Bermuda aviation authorities did not publish more recent data).

At the end of 2022, the carrier’s revenue fell by 81%, to 35.1 billion rubles, and the net loss amounted to 13.5 billion rubles. against profit of 53.9 billion rubles. a year earlier. At the end of 2022, the ultimate beneficiaries of the company remained the founder of the Volga-Dnepr group, Alexey Isaikin (75%) and Sergey Shklyanik (25%). The carrier’s reporting noted that management “is implementing measures to resume operations on new types of Russian-made aircraft.”

Back in 2022, AirBridgeCargo discussed leasing a Boeing 747 to Etihad Airways, Izvestia wrote, citing sources. It was planned to organize a joint venture with Etihad in the UAE and continue cargo transportation using the existing fleet. But the deal did not take place, since in the summer of that year Britain imposed personal sanctions against Isaikin.

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In March 2023, AirBridgeCargo announced that it wanted to resume transportation using the Il-96, which the Russian aviation industry decided to return to flights amid sanctions. The first flight, to China , was planned to be organized in the summer, but then the planes were unexpectedly transferred to another Russian airline - Sky Gates, a subsidiary of Rostec-owned Red Wings airline.