AirBridgeCargo Airlines, a part of Volga-Dnepr Group, is increasing its B747 freighter flights linking Tokyo and Seoul with Moscow. Beginning 1 October 2014, the Russian cargo airline will increase its scheduled flights from Moscow to Tokyo’s Narita Airport and on the onward connection to Seoul, Korea, to three services a week. The extra frequencies reflect ABC’s growth in Asia-Pacific and extend its commitment to the Japanese and Korean air cargo and manufacturing markets, the company said.

“Asia Pacific as a whole is vital for Volga-Dnepr Group with three of the world’s top five economies located in the region,” said Anton Khodakovskiy, Volga Dnepr Group’s vice president, Japan and South Korea. “We see fundamental changes in APAC, with the constantly growing importance and influence of Asian economies as well as increasing intra-Asian trade and fast-growing consumer demand.”

The new services will help ABC’s customers to meet increased consumer demand, especially in the automotive sector, the company said. Over the last eight months, ABC’s tonnage from Japan and Korea has grown by 40 per cent. The highest level of growth has been seen on AirBridgeCargo’s routes to Europe and Russia, where volumes rose 20 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively, over this period.

Overall, ABC transported 6,810 tonnes of cargo from Japan and Korea in the eight months to the end of August.  ABC said that its DAP (delivered as promised) performance figures on these routes were also above the industry average, reaching 90 per cent this year through the end of August.