AirBridgeCargo Airlines (ABC) has been developing its dedicated ‘abc care’ product to cater to the needs of the customers transporting live animals. With special attention towards well-being and comfort of the ‘special passengers’ onboard, ABC strives for improvement of its services, deepening of its knowledge and expertise and opting for working only with reliable and trustworthy customers, the company said in a release.

This was the case when the carrier organized a complex charter flight for 146 heifers, which was accomplished in partnership with ABC’s longtime partner Intradco Global. The request would have been reviewed as a normal one were it not for the routing, with the flight originating in Houston, Texas, with a destination of Bangkok. The abc care team started preparations long before the flight, scrutinizing every detail of the complex delivery and being in a constant dialogue with the customer to make sure that on the appointed day, everything went smoothly.

The animals were grouped in 27 cow stalls, each securely stowed and lashed on the maindeck of the airline’s Boeing 747-8F, and flew more than 17,182 kilometers over 19 hours and 45 minutes to their final destination, all while in comfortable conditions. During the flight, the ABC flight crew made sure that the internal temperature was maintained in accordance with the required guidelines, between 6°C to 10°C. Additional support was provided by the groom, who made sure that all the cows felt safe and secure.

“We treat animals not like special cargo, but rather as very sensitive passengers who require extra care and attention,” said Sergey Lazarev, general director of AirBridgeCargo Airlines. “No matter how experienced and qualified our specialists are, with every flight we deepen our knowledge and learn from our experience, as each transportation is unique.  This helps us in improving our services and mitigating the risks.”

Lazarev says that a successful formula for the organization of such long-haul flight with live animals lies in the combination of expertise and experience of the airline’s abc care team and the operational capabilities of its 747-8 freighter.

“So far in 2019, we have achieved a four-fold increase in a number of charter flights with heifers, and hope that will be able to contribute to this sector more in the months to come.”

To guarantee well-being and safety of each animal on board, the company has established special operational procedures and aims for further reinforcement of its abc care team with qualified specialists from all the departments involved in this complex transportation.

\For the first five months of 2019, ABC has safely delivered twice as many animals as it did in 2018. In 2019, the company became a member of the Animal Transportation Association, which strives for the safe and humane handling and transport of all animals worldwide.