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AirBridge Cargo, Russia's largest cargo airline in the past, began returning imported aircraft to their owners after the flights were suspended. The carrier sent the first Boeing 747 to Shanghai to the Chinese lessor VOSA (Bank of China Aviation), a representative of the company told RBC.
In the near future, the second Boeing, which is in the fleet of the airline, will go to China, says the source of the publication. In total, AirBridgeCargo had three Boeings that it leased from VOCA. The lessor took one of them back in 2022 against the backdrop of sanctions: the plane was in Hong Kong at that time.
Due to the non-return of the two remaining planes, the lessor sued the Russian airline in a New York court in 2023 and won the lawsuit. AirBridgeCargo was ordered to pay $406 million. The company did not specify whether the return of the planes cancels the need for this payment.
Before the war in Ukraine, AirBridge Cargo was considered the largest cargo airline in Russia. In 2021, it accounted for 43% of Russian air cargo transportation, or 639 tons of cargo. The company operated only foreign aircraft manufactured by Boeing.
At the moment, the company still has 11 cargo Boeing 747-8s, four Boeing 747-400s and one Boeing 777. Most of them have been idle at Sheremetyevo Airport for more than two years.
In 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on 12 AirBridge Cargo planes, which prohibited them from being serviced abroad. At the same time, as of January 2024, all aircraft of the airline were still registered in Bermuda.
