Atran (V8, Moscow Vnukovo) has launched a new route linking Xi'an Xianyang with Moscow Sheremetyevo with the first flight taking place on April 14 using B737-400(F) VQ-BVF (msn 29001) and operating via Novosibirsk.

In a press release, the parent holding Volga-Dnepr Group announced that the flights would soon switch to the larger B737-800(F) WIN., of which Atran currently operates a single unit.

The new service predominantly caters to cross-border e-commerce demand and is provided in partnership with the postal services of China and Russia.

While Atran itself did not previously serve China, it has already operated from/to Russia's Far East. Scheduled sister carrier AirBridgeCargo (RU, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) currently serves Beijing Capital, Chengdu Shuangliu, Chongqing, Shanghai Pudong, Shenzhen, and Zhengzhou in the country. Out of Shanghai, it also operates trans-pacific services three times weekly linking the Chinese business hub with Los Angeles International and Chicago O'Hare via Anchorage Ted Stevens.

Atran currently operates four B737-400(F)s and one B737-800(F) freighters on express freighter services within Russia, as well as to Cologne/Bonn, Liège, Munich, and Stockholm Arlanda.