Volume of the air cargo market in 2012 was 46.5 million tonnes, which is 1.5% less than in 2011. The decline reflected economic problems in Europe.

Slower growth of Russian air cargo business, particularly on international routes (-1%), reflects negative trends in the world economy in 2012, including the reduction of goods flows on the Asia — Europe market. The situation was better on the domestic market, which showed a volume increase by 6% in 2012. Russian airlines carried 673,100 tonnes of cargo on international routes in 2012 and 314,600 tonnes on domestic routes. The share of domestic business in overall carrying was 31%.

Aeroflot Group accounted for 16% of the total Russian air cargo market by volume in 2012, taking second place after AirBridgeCargo, which accounted for 37%. The total market share of the five largest Russian cargo carriers was 70%.

One of the most important events for the Russian air cargo industry in 2012 was the implementation of a pilot project for introduction of the e-Freight standard. Aeroflot Group carried out test flights as part of the project, which is scheduled for completion in 2013–2014. The e-Freight standard will enable electronic document processing for air cargo operations, which will reduce the time needed for customs formalities and assist the development of the Russian cargo segment.