A True Heavyweight: Volga-Dnepr Group Provides a 'Cargo Supermarket' Offering Scheduled and Charter Freight Operations on Two Distinct Airlines
2009; De Gruyter; Volume: 46; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0002-2543
Autores Tópico(s)Transport and Economic Policies
ResumoA cargo operator, Volga-Dnepr Group, provides a wide array of cargo services on two distinct airlines. Despite dramatic drops in revenue-ton-kilometers (RTKs) in the international air cargo business, Volga-Dnepr Group expects 2009 to match 2008 in terms of flight hours and volume. That confidence stems from its dual business strategy, with Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport-based Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VDA) offering air cargo charter services on ramp freighters and AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) operating scheduled cargo flights with 747s. Combined, their volume rose 25 percent over the course of 12 months. VDA’s charter services have proved especially popular for humanitarian relief aid and other cargo requirements of governments and international organizations. They represent more than half of the Antonov activity. The Group says it also has a 50 percent share of the An-124-100 oversized cargo market. Cargo that VDA has carried includes gold from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, Porsches from Germany to Mexico, and an entire new production line for a glassworks factory. While VDA more than doubled its cargo tonnage over the past five years, ABC’s grew tenfold. Its growth is due to its use of trans-Siberian and cross-Polar flight routes to connect Europe’s biggest hubs with Asia’s major airports over its hubs in Moscow. While charter business remained strong for VDA during 2008, scheduled service is lagging, falling about 10-15 percent between Europe and China, with 30-35 percent drops in routes to Japan. The group is initiating cost-cutting and recently reduced frequency on certain routes, dropping one flight, for example, from its seven-times-weekly service to Hong Kong. It also is moving ahead with fleet modernization plans.
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