The Volga-Dnepr Group, a world leader in transportation of unique, oversize and heavy cargo, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further the group’s fleet expansion with 20 additional B747-8 Freighters, valued at US$7.4 billion at list prices. For Volga Dnepr, adding more B747- 8 Freighters will allow development of the Group’s scheduled business, AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC), and keep the airline’s high growth rates, the group said. These additional 20 airplanes will be acquired … [Read more...] about Volga Dnepr places bold order for 20 B747-8Fs

The Brazilian city of Natal has been a new destination in the Lufthansa Cargo network since 7 June. Lufthansa’s cargo arm now flies to the ‘City of the Sun’ every Sunday. Achim Martinka, VP The Americas at Lufthansa Cargo, said the destination fits right into the existing route to Frankfurt via Viracopos. Located just a few degrees south of the Equator, Natal is on the north-eastern tip of Brazil and boasts ideal fruit-growing conditions. Thanks to the subtropical climate, there is a large … [Read more...] about Lufthansa Cargo adds Brazil’s Natal

Lufthansa Cargo has announced the appointment of several new managers in its product & sales division this summer. Frank Naeve will be responsible for the area management Asia/Pacific as vice president. Naeve is currently in charge of the eCargo programme, a key element of the future strategy Lufthansa Cargo 2020. In the past he already served in various executive positions in Asia, among others as general manager of the Chinese cargo airline Jade Cargo International. Naeve will … [Read more...] about Personnel changes at Lufthansa Cargo

Airbus, Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) and Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd (ST Aerospace) have signed agreements for a collaboration to launch the A320/A321 passenger-tofreighter (P2F) conversion programme. Under the agreements, ST Aerospace will lead the A320/A321P2F engineering development, working in tandem with Airbus and EFW, with conversions to be undertaken in EFW and in ST Aerospace’s global network of facilities. This follows a similar collaboration for the A330P2F conversion … [Read more...] about Airbus, EFW, ST launch A320/A321 conversions

Lufthansa is scaling back operations to Russia, as it discontinues three destinations from Frankfurt to Samara, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow Vnukovo as the routes have become unprofitable. The German airline will operate the last flights to Samara and Nizhny Novgorod in early September. The last Frankfurt-Moscow Vnukovo service is planned for August 30 and will continue to operate to Moscow Domodedovo only. Axel Hilgers, Lufthansa director-Russian Federation and CIS, said: “It was a hard … [Read more...] about Lufthansa ends three Russian routes

Swiss has appointed Ashwin Bhat as its new head of cargo. He will assume his new duties on 1 October. Bhat, who is currently head of global area management at Swiss WorldCargo, succeeds Oliver Evans, who has decided to step down from the post after some 13 years. Bhat, who is 46 and an Indian national, joined Swiss WorldCargo in 2002. After several years serving in various capacities within pricing, revenue management and controlling, he was appointed head of area management Asia, Middle East … [Read more...] about Swiss appoints new head of cargo