East Line becomes more pessimistic over the aircraft

Published: 6/26/2000

On 21st June, Dmitry Kamenshik, Chairman of East Line, opening an exhibition at the State Duma to show parliamentarians the new Domodedovo Airport, said that the group has spent $250m on the reconstruction over the past four years and is going to spend an additional $60-70m in the next six to 12 months. He admitted however, that despite early optimism over potential traffic from Lufthansa and Air France, East Line has had difficulty in persuading western airlines to use the airport, although he claims that talks are ongoing with Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines. Appearing to influence the negotiations for the Il-96, Kamenshik also said that the airline had decided that the cargo version of the Il-96-300 was unable to meet its requirements. The principal problem is the installation of a wide cargo door, which Kamenshik said could not be achieved without considerable loss of strength in the airframe. He also added that the Il-96T would not be an attractive option, but that the company might consider a new Il-96 cargo variant with an extended fuselage and Russian engines, presumably the PS-90s. The longer fuselage, according to East Line, gives the designers the opportunity to install a door of an adequate size. Kamenshik added however, that producer VASO's current prices for the Il-96s are 'too expensive for the aircraft of this capability' and unless the manufacturer cuts prices there will be no commitment for any aircraft from East Line. Meanwhile, negotiations with TAPO on the specific details of the purchase of two Il-76TFs, agreed in principle last month, have showed little progress due to what East Line have described as 'a lack of flexibility' from the manufacturer. Discussing the current situation in the Chinese market, Kamenshik said that the cargo traffic by air between the two countries has been restored after the crisis of winter 1999/2000, with Russian airlines now flying 250 Il-76 flights a month to China. The passenger traffic at Domodedovo has also been stable in the first five months of this year during which 0.8m passengers passed through the airport. Kamenshik also confirmed that Russia and China are continuing talks on the establishment of a Russo-Chinese joint venture airline and that a number of airlines are involved in the discussions at present including, according to reports, China Eastern Airlines. East Line has said that the venture, which will take several months to conclude, may involve more than one Chinese joint venture partner. The new venture will be registered in China and will use Chinese rights for commercial operations on routes, with East Line contributing aircraft and crews in addition to working capital in return for a significant share of the new entity. The JV will allow Russian aircraft to fly inside China and over to third countries using Chinese rights on commercial use of these routes. The benefit of the JV for East Line will be to enhance the airline's opportunities in the cargo traffic between the two countries, third destinations and within China. China remains East Line's major source of business representing 65% of its total revenues.

Article ID: 1876