Aeroflot Air Cargo Profile

Aeroflot is the flag carrier and largest airline of Russia, tracing its origins to 1923 and adopting the Aeroflot name in 1932, which makes it one of the oldest airlines still operating. It is majority state-owned, with the Federal Agency for State Property Management holding about 73.77 percent, and flies under IATA code SU and ICAO code AFL. Its main base is Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO), which also serves as the hub for its cargo operations alongside domestic and international passenger services.

Aeroflot no longer runs a distinct freighter division. A subsidiary, Aeroflot-Cargo, was set up in 1995 and operated McDonnell Douglas MD-11F freighters, but it was declared bankrupt in 2009 and wound down by 2010, after which cargo was folded back into the parent airline. Today all freight moves as belly-hold capacity in the lower decks of passenger aircraft, using wide-bodies such as the Boeing 777-300ER, Airbus A330-300 and A350-900 on long-haul routes and A320-family and Boeing 737-800 narrow-bodies on shorter sectors.

Sanctions tied to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine reshaped the business. Aeroflot's SkyTeam membership, held since 2006, was suspended in April 2022, and airspace bans across the European Union, United Kingdom, United States and Canada cut off many Western lanes. Cargo and passenger traffic shifted toward China, the wider Asia region, the Middle East and CIS markets, with the China corridor a notable growth area. Access to Boeing and Airbus support was restricted, pushing the group toward domestic aircraft types and, in 2025, some used freighters acquired mainly for parts.