ABC adds Ho Chi Minh City to international network

AirBridgeCargo (ABC), a subsidiary of Russian airline conglomerate Volga-Dnepr Group, has launched a new 747-freighter service to Ho Chi Minh City. The move connects Vietnam to ABC’s international network – guaranteeing “48-hour delivery times, including ground handling,” to anywhere ABC flies out of its Moscow hub.

In June, Air Cargo World spoke with ABC operations director Sergey Lazarev, who hinted at the airline’s intent to add another hub to its network, either in Asia or Europe, citing, “evolving demand from the e-commerce sector, and other special cargoes in these regions.”

This move is an expansion of the carrier’s three-year presence in Vietnam – a major exporter of textiles and electronics – where it already operates out of the nation’s capital of Hanoi, 1,600 kilometers north.

The United States and the European Union are Vietnam’s most prominent importers. “On the back of economic growth of more than 7 percent and increasing export volumes, Vietnam seems like the right place to offer direct freight services to other regions, especially Europe and North America,” Lazarev said.

Leaders in the logistics landscape are paying more attention to the Southeast Asian nation due to its projected economic growth. DHL said at the end of May, when it released its plans for a last-mile delivery service to target domestic demand for e-commerce, that Vietnam will be the “second-fastest-growing Asian economy by 2021.”