Canada requires foreign airlines to obtain its own national AOC, which attests to the airline's competence regarding its ability to conduct a safe operation and clearly defines who is in charge of its safety program and policy. This is the first step towards any airline gaining permission to operate to and from Canada.

As part of the evaluation process, ABC - part of Volga-Dnepr Group - had to demonstrate that its business processes met the requirements of the Chicago Civil Aviation Convention (1944) as well as a number of specific requirements of Transport Canada. Representatives of the government department also conducted a full-scale operational audit during their visit at the ABC’s headquarters in Moscow earlier this year.

Denis Ilyin, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Commercial at ABC, said: “This important achievement is yet another endorsement of the progress AirBridgeCargo has made since its launch in 2004 and highlights our proven operating record . It also gives us the ability to apply to fly to and from Canada in the future.”

AirBridgeCargo was awarded its own AOC by the Russian Government in October 2006. This was a key milestone in Volga-Dnepr Group’s strategic development plan to operate financially independent and operationally strong scheduled and charter cargo airlines.

ABC’s current schedule offers 15 Boeing 747 freighter flights per week ex Frankfurt and six services a week from Amsterdam to Russia, providing daily and twice daily operations to Moscow, two flights a week to St. Petersburg and six services a week to Krasnoyarsk. As well as its current three flights a week to and from Japan, ABC operates seven services a week to and from Shanghai and four flights a week to and from Beijing. It also serves Hong Kong with seven flights each week.