Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Group plans to start a regional freight airline using converted 737 freighters to supplement the long-haul business of the company’s AirBridgeCargo operation, according to a published report.
Volga-Dnepr Chairman Valery Gabriel told Russian Aviation magazine he expects to launch the airline by the end of this year at a cost of some $40 million to $50 million financed entirely by the company.
Gabriel said the airline hasn’t yet purchased the aircraft for the new operation but has gotten its “best offer at present” on seven to 10 narrowbody Boeing 737s that would be converted outside Russia and that Volga-Dnepr likely will need up to four more of the planes.
The aircraft would provide feeder service to the ABC operation that now uses widebody 747 freighters to bring cargo into Moscow, turning that transit operation into a hub similar to the DHL Express hub in Germany.
The Journal of Commerce Online
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