VOLGA-DNEPR Airlines, the Russian oversized freight specialist, has taken delivery of its first Boeing 747-200 Freighter, the first B747 to operated by a Russian airline. The former Alitalia aircraft was delivered to the Ulyanovsk-based airline last week and will be operated by its new scheduled cargo arm AirBridge Cargo on services from Luxembourg. The new airline will operate independently to the company”s heavyweight Antonov An-124 charter activities, with licences already secured to operate services from Findel Airport to the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai via Moscow and the Siberian City of Novosibirsk. A second aircraft is scheduled for delivery in June and other aircraft, including larbger B747-400s, could also join the fleet over the next two years. AirBridge Cargo plans to develop an extensive network of scheduled routes throughout Russia and are understood to be studying a number of locally-produced models, such as the Tupolev Tu-204 to support its regional cargo needs.
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