irBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) has started scheduled commercial B747 freighter services to Kabul, the first since the US-led coalition started military operations there in 2001.

The Russian carrier said the first flight operation on 14 July had gone smoothly - carrying armoured vehicles - handled in Kabul airport by Ariana.

Dennis Gliznoutsa, group commercial director for parent company Volga-Dnepr, said: “Despite the fact that volumes are down worldwide, the Middle East is still a vast and attractive marketplace for the group.

“During these unpredictable times, the Kabul deployment is a very important step in ABC’s activities.”

Tatyana Arslanova, ABC’s executive senior VP for strategy, marketing and sales, said the move was a good example of synergies within the group’s two businesses, with ABC going into the Afghan market following Volga-Dnepr Airlines’s 10-year experience of operating An-124 and Il-76s freighters into the country.

Source: IFW