East Line reports that it carried 25% of international cargo in Russia in 1999

Published: 2/29/2000

East Line Airlines (ESL) has reported a 20% rise in traffic in 1999, compared to 1998. In 1999 according to ESL it carried 25% of all international cargo flights in Russia. In all, 60,000t of cargo was carried by ESL through it hub at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, with traffic amounting to 300m km/t. Although ranking second to Aeroflot, in terms of the overall total of cargo carried, ESL was the largest Russian carrier transporting freight on specialised aircraft (Il-76 and An-12). Most of Aeroflot"s cargoes travel in the cargo bays of passenger aircraft. Currently, ESL operates a 42-strong fleet, including 25 Il-76s, five An-12s, four Tu-154s, four Yak-42s, one Il-86, one Il-62 (two more are expected to join soon) and two An-74s. Cargo accounts for 95% of East Line"s business in 1999, after their withdrawl from unprofitable passenger flights within Russia in 1998. Last year it opened services to a number of international destinations in Germany, Kazakhstan and Kyrgizstan, carrying 48,000 passengers on these scheduled routes, plus regular charters on 300 flights by the end of 1999. This compares to 100,000 passengers in 1998, but according to Amirani Kurtanidze, Executive Director of ESL, passenger services in 1999 generated a marginal profit averaging 3%, but was not forthcoming with any other performance figures. During the past year, ESL has acquired rights for regular services to new destinations in China, Korea (Seoul, Pusan), West European countries and to the USA, following permission from the FAA. By the year-end, eight flights to the USA had been made by specially modified Il-76 and Il-62 aircraft, carrying peacekeeping troops and armaments. ESL now plans to carry humanitarian cargoes under UN programmes. Last year, it equipped three Il-76s and an Il-62 with TCAS collision-avoidance systems, at a cost of $0.8m.

Article ID: 1492