OREANDA-NEWS  On 12 November Volga-Dnepr Group of Companies announced a 75% increase in sales for the first nine months of 2008 with total revenue from its charter and scheduled cargo transportation services of USD 1,265 million compared to the same period a year ago.

Total cargo tonnage was up by 51% to 210,000 tons.

Cargo carried onboard the Groups AN-124-100 fleet grew by 56% to 52,000 tons.

Volga-Dnepr’s IL-76's fleet carried over 60,000 tons, 71% more than in the previous year.

Sales for charter services increased by 80% to USD 882.9 million.

Sales for AirBridgeCargo Airlines’ scheduled cargo services achieved an increase of 68% to USD 344.1 million.

Commenting on the Group’s nine-month, Alexey Isaikin, President of Volga-Dnepr said: “Volga-Dnepr continues to actively promote its growth strategy. Our customers from 150 countries worldwide have demonstrated the long-term demand for our services and this again proves the solid competitive position of Russian AN-124 and IL-76 freighters. In the scheduled cargo market, characterized by extremely high levels of competition from the world's largest operators, the Group has also shown positive dynamics.

We have managed to build a strong marketing, operational and financial base and all this, combined with our proven ability to deliver unique logistics solutions, will allow us to take advantage of further development opportunities even in the current challenging environment.”