Aircraft to under go civilian certification refit at Aviastar (400 words)

Published: 9/28/2000

Polyot Airlines has reported that it has received another ex air force An-124-100 from the Ministry of Defence. The aircraft is the third of 4 An-124-100; 2 of which Polyot Airlines intends to use to launch satellites as part of Air Launch Aerospace Corporation's programme and the others for commercial cargo carrying. The company's spokesperson said that the aircraft have been purchased very cheaply reflecting their age and reportedly poor condition. Although according to the Deputy General Director of Polyot, Boris Noginsky, the media have somewhat overstated the case, as the aircraft have an average ten years old and any problems with the aircraft relate primarily to the fact that they have been parked for the last few years. He does however concede the purchase of the aircraft, keenly contested with Volga-Dnepr, saves “4 good aircraft …decaying somewhere ”. The most recently delivered aircraft follows the delivery of the first two aircraft in May-June 2000, giving Polyot a five aircraft An-124-100 fleet. The last aircraft's delivery is expected in the next 2 months after work is completed to enable the aircraft to fly from its base in Bryansk to Polyot's base at Ulyanovsk. Polyot has signed an agreement with Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar to modernise the newly acquired aircraft and joining the 2 aircraft the plant is currently working on for civil certification. The refit of the aircraft also includes new navigation systems and hushkits to allow the aircraft to meet ICAO noise requirements. According to Noginsky, the first aircraft will be ready by the end of this year or the beginning of next , followed by the second during the first quarter of 2001 and the third and fourth by the end of the year. The cost of restoring the aircraft for flight and then certifying them is described by Noginsky as being “high”, although arguably substantially less than buying a new aircraft. Created as a private carrier, in contrast to other carriers in Russia, Polyot is largely owned by its management and is the smaller of the heavy lift carriers with less than 7% of the heavy lift market, although a recent award has suggested one of the best. Among the airline's customers Polyot's clients are arms export agency Rosvooruzhenie, diamond producer Almazy Rossi-Sakha and Philip Morris.

Article ID: 2095