The Russian cargo airline Aeroflot has celebrated its 15th anniversary at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport.

In Western Europe, when a passenger aircraft of the Russian airline Aeroflot goes in the direction of Moscow, not only the passengers’ suitcases fly, but also the so-called "belly cargo". The Aeroflot Airbus 320 can take up to a tonne of freight. From the base of the Aeroflot in the Russian capital, the cargo is flown to destinations around the globe. This cargo is marketed by the "Cargo Sales Europe" team at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport.

"We market 70 flights per day and so about 70 tonnes of freight," explains regional manager Valery Serafimov. In addition to flights from Germany, Aeroflot connections from seven other countries are marketed for cargo traffic, including flights from Austria, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium. "In time for our anniversary, the 15th anniversary of Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, Portugal's capital Lisbon will be added," Serafimov announced.

The expansion of the marketing area is boosted by the fact that the freight numbers in the European distribution have risen by 41% in 2016. And the positive trend continues: From January to May 2017, the sales team at Hahn doubled the volume of mail in comparison to the previous year's period. The figures have been achieved, among other things, by the fact that Aeroflot has been placing even more emphasis on the direct distribution of its belly cargo.

The anniversary was celebrated with customers from all over Europe, who were welcomed by the Director of the Aeroflot Cargo Department, Oleg Korolev.

Korolev praised the "Cargo Sales Europe" team at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, which currently consists of 19 employees. The Cargo Director also looked back at the history of the site at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. In 2002 Aeroflot changed from the then location in Luxembourg to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, because of a night charter permit. Initially, Aeroflot was on the spot with its own cargo truck, but in 2011 the airline changed its strategy and continued to rely on belly cargo. The location at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport has been built as the sales centre for Western Europe.