cargoes such as high value luxury
goods from France, Belgium and the
Netherlands.” According to Tatyana
Arslanova, AirBridgeCargo’s Executive
Senior Vice President, Strategy, Marketing and Sales, the carrier is already
considering adding a second weekly
frequency.
Two months earlier, Kazakhstan-based carrier DETA Air launched
a twice-weekly DC10-40 freighter
operation linking Almaty with Hong
Kong and Istanbul, Turkey. The airline’s
General Director, Zhaxybekov Yerlan,
said the move followed discussions
with clients about market expansion
prospects which had highlighted “
possibilities of successful development for
both parties”.
DETA stated that it currently had
fleet of four freighters – two DC10-40s
and two Ilyushin IL62Ms — and overall
was planning to ship more than 12,000
tonnes of cargo this year. “The route
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network connects Kazakhstan, China,
Korea, Europe and the Middle East,”
explained the carrier, adding that it was
“developing the network and increases
in flight frequency necessary to fulfil
the increasing needs of the population
and economy of Kazakhstan.”
Elsewhere on the Caspian air
cargo scene, July saw UK-based Coyne
Airways add a second weekly freighter
service between Western Europe and
Tbilisi, Georgia, which it uses as a hub
to serve regional markets including Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The new
midweek service is being maintained
with a Jade Cargo B747-400F flying out
of Frankfurt, Germany.
The carrier’s longer established
original weekly B747-400F service into
Tbilisi is operated out of London Stan-sted, UK and Cologne, Germany.
Coyne Airways also earlier this year
expanded the Caspian region IL76 and
AN12 freighter connections it offers
out of Tbilisi with the introduction of
a fortnightly IL76 flight into Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan. “The volumes are not
large enough to justify a weekly service
but it seems to make some sense to
operate it every other week,” stated the
airline’s CEO, Larry Coyne. “That flight
can additionally drop into Turkmenbashi which is a major Turkmenistan oil
production centre.”
