2016 is already a record-breaking year for AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) following a further 30 percent year-on-year growth in tonnage in October to 57,608 tons.

With two months of the year still to go, ABC has achieved its thirteenth consecutive year of growth. In the 10 months ending on October 30, 2016, the airline carried 498,177 tons across its growing international route network, an increase of 29 percent over the corresponding period of 2015. Last year, the airline set a record of 483,000 tons flown.

Robert van de Weg, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Volga-Dnepr Group, ABC’s parent company, said: “Our continued strong growth is based on staying close to our customers and ensuring we support them with cargo capacity when and where they most need it. In such a challenging air cargo market, it is important to earn customer trust in the quality and reliability of your service and to demonstrate the ability to provide responsive solutions – now increasingly for special cargo categories like pharmaceuticals and oversized cargo.”

The new record is based on tonnage flown onboard AirBridgeCargo’s own Boeing 747 cargo fleet and on ACMI-partner (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) aircraft.

2016 has seen a further expansion of the airline’s cargo network with new routes to meet the requirements of its global customers. A new Houston to Abu Dhabi operation was followed by the introduction of all-cargo services connecting ABC’s global hub in Moscow with Chongqing in China, Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Seattle in the U.S., Heathrow in the United Kingdom, and, most recently, Oslo, Norway, to serve the country’s thriving market for salmon exports.

In September, 2016, AirBridgeCargo took delivery of its ninth new Boeing 747-8 Freighter, taking its total fleet to 16 747F’s. This latest aircraft was the fifth new 747-8F to join the fleet of Volga-Dnepr Group since it confirmed an order with Boeing for 20 more 747-8F’s in July. Through its hub in Moscow, ABC is able to connect origin and destination points across its network serving Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific within a 48-hour cargo delivery time, including cargo handling.