Airline sees upswing in business (301 words)

Published: 6/19/2001

Vitaly Shakhov, Deputy Commercial Director of Archangelsk Air Routes (AVL), has announced that the airline will receive another Tu-134: its third overhauled Tu-134 in the last six months. The aircraft has been overhauled under an agreement between AVL, the Moscow Industrial Bank and the Minsk Aircraft Repair Plant. The $2.5m programme, lasting two and a half years, involves the overhaul of both airframes and engines and is financed jointly by the bank and the airline. In 2001, three aircraft should be overhauled and restored to service for another five years. According to Shakhov, the airline's cargo business has recently grown markedly, owing to new customers involved in a geological survey in the Archangel region, with a commensurate increase in load factor on flights to and from Moscow and St Petersburg. In order to meet the demand for cargo capacity, AVL has already overhauled an An-26 that has been grounded for several years. In total, AVL's flyable fleet now totals 16 aircraft: four Tu-154s, six Tu-134s (two soon returning from overhaul), three An-24s, and two An-26s (one is a cargo variant; the other one a laboratory). One An-24 was recently overhauled in Kiev. Recently, AVL opened its office in Moscow, in addition to offices in St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Narian-Mar, Apatity. The airline makes five passenger and cargo flights daily to Moscow's Shermetyevo Airport, with load factors of about 60%. The working group of the Barents/Euroarctic Regional Council, which is supporting AVL in obtaining anti-collision equipment for its Scandinavian routes, recently visited Archangel to hold talks on the issue. According to Shakhov, the equipment will be installed before 30th September, with the council providing a major part of the financing, in the form of a grant.

Article ID: 2592