Penza airline gone, but what happens to the airport

Published: 2/21/2000

Two years ago, after a prolonged struggle, the Penza Air Enterprise, formed in 1992, went into bankruptcy and external administration. After a year in administration, the air company"s pressing financial problems deteriorated even further, with the withdrawal of the airline"s licence by the FSVT, due to the condition of its fleet. On 28th October 1999, the arbitration court agreed to the company"s liquidation in order to pay debts, appointed a receiver and the air company ceased to exist. The challenge now is to keep the airport functioning; as it is very unlikely the airline will have its operating licence restored. The airline"s fleet of six An-24s and 13 An-2s are all life expired and require expenditure of between 250,000 and 5m rubles per aircraft to restore them to the FSVT"s operable requirements. The aircraft will probably be sold off to meet the air company"s debts. Given this development, it seems likely that the airport will become a transit airport, dependent on traffic from elsewhere. This poses its own set of problems for those running the airport, with onoing monthly costs of 500,000 rubles. Negotiations are currently underway with a number of airlines to use the airport and the management hopes that, this spring, it will be able to establish links to St Petersburg, Sochi and Mineralny Vody, provided the airport remains open. Other routes being discussed with a number of airlines include Moscow, Saransk, Ulyanovsk, Yekaterinburg and Surgut. Reports suggest that the airline has already started to accumulate fuel to service these flights and gain some cash flow. In the last two months, the air company has laid off 100 of its staff and now retains only three pilots, although these are apparently currently employed in the airport"s security and fuel facilities.

Article ID: 1442