Cargo volume declined five per cent in the first half of 2009 for Volga-Dnepr, Russia’s biggest air cargo carrier. The decline, to 835,000 tonne kilometers in the six months to 30 June, contrasted with an average fall of between 19 and 23 per cent for rival Russian carriers, Volga-Dnepr said.

The group’s scheduled cargo carrier, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, boosted traffic by five per cent to 551,000 tonne kilometers. AirBridgeCargo’s volume was up 4.6 per cent at 65,100 tonnes as it added three European destinations: Maastricht, Netherlands, Saragossa, Spain and Milan, Italy.

Volga-Dnepr’s charter unit flew less freight, measured in tonne kilometers, but its fleet of AN-124 freighters boosted cargo tonnage by 1.2 per cent to 37,800 metric tonnes. Long-term contracts now account for 61 per cent of freight revenue, the company said.

Volga-Dnepr Group president, Alexey Isaikin said the carrier managed to remain stable in a challenging global air cargo market by sticking to its strategic goals and continuing to develop its “cargo supermarket” business model which offers shippers a mix of charter and scheduled logistics services.