UK's CargoLogicAir ends B747-8(F) ops

Russia's AirBridgeCargo adds maiden B777 freighter

AirBridgeCargo (RU, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) took delivery of its maiden B777-F on August 17, 2020. The aircraft joined the carrier's existing fleet of seventeen B747 freighters.

VQ-BAO (msn 66625) is dry-leased by the carrier's parent, Volga-Dnepr Group, from DAE Capital and was ferried from Everett directly to Sharjah on delivery.

The twin-engine freighter is the first of a trio due to deliver to AirBridgeCargo as part of a sales/lease-back deal signed with DAE Capital last year. The schedule of the remaining two deliveries is unknown at this time.

While neither party explicitly referred to it, the three B777-Fs were the subject of a court case between Boeing and Volga-Dnepr Group earlier this year. The Russian cargo holding, at that time in dire financial straits, missed pre-delivery payments prompting Boeing to try to remarket the aircraft to other customers. When cargo rates soared due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Volga-Dnepr Group secured financing for the aircraft and sought to stop Boeing from selling them to other airlines. While at that time,...

Volga-Dnepr loses court battle to Boeing over freighters

Volga-Dnepr Group has lost a case against Boeing (BOE, Chicago O'Hare) in a court in the United States, allowing the manufacturer to sell one B747-8(F) and three B777-Fs that had previously been meant for the cargo group’s carrier, The Loadstar reported on June 3.

Volga-Dnepr had tried to obtain a temporary order stopping Boeing from marketing the aircraft to other parties, but it failed to win any of the legal arguments. Essentially, it had not been able to make a payment when the delivery of the B747-8F was due in February or for three B777-Fs it had on order.

Boeing opted to re-market them, something Volga-Dnepr Group okayed it to do, but as cargo rates rose with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the group found the money and attempted to get the freighters back. With the contract broken, however, Boeing had found other customers.

The group claimed it had merely “warned” Boeing in January, before the scheduled delivery, that it may not be able to pay. It also argued that Boeing...

UK's CargoLogicAir to restart thanks to COVID-19

CargoLogicAir (CLU, London Stansted) has reactivated its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) and Operator's Licence (OL) as a spike in global demand for freighter aircraft has thrown the financially fraught airline a new lifeline. The airline's AOC and OL were suspended in February for three months at its own request.

"We can confirm that CargoLogicAir Limited, which operates from London Stansted Airport, has had its Operating Licence and Air Operator Certificate suspension lifted in order for them to provide cargo flights using two Boeing 747 aircraft on contracts to provide medical supplies," a spokesperson for the UK Civil Aviation Authority said.

The UK affiliate of Volga-Dnepr Group suspended operations in early February 2020 amid financial troubles but has already started talks with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) about reactivating. Both of its B747-400(F)s, G-CLAA (msn 33749) and G-CLBA (msn 32870), remain in storage at Leipzig/Halle with the former aircraft grounded since February (barring a ferry flight from Dubai World Central to Leipzig in mid-March) and the latter since the end of...

Editorial Comment: Corrected registration of second B747 - 26.04.2020 - 06:27 UTC

Global airlines cut capacity, staff, costs due to COVID-19