Polyet to take delivery in August (418 words)

Published: 7/11/2001

Polyet Airlines, based in Voronezh, is to take delivery of the first of five ex air force An-124 Ruslan after overhaul at Aviastar in Ulyanovsk in August.The aircraft have been repaired and upgarded to civilian An-124-100 standard and will be flight-tested before delivery to the airline. The aircraft acquired by the airline from the Russian Air Force in fierce competition from Volga Dnepr last year, were finally passed to the operator by government order, with the intention to use two as the launch aircraft in the Air Launch Aerospace Corporation satellite launch programme that is planned to make its first flight in 2003. According to the airline, the cost of refurbishing and upgrading the five aircraft will be in the region of $60m provided in part from the privately owned airline's own resources (25%) with the balance coming from a number of banks, particularly the state owned Vneshtorgbank. The aircraft were bought from the government at prices according to Boris Noginsky, Deputy General Director of the airline that reflected condition and age. Although he did add when the aircraft were acquired, that they were on average only ten years old and most of the problems they had, related to being parked outside for a “few years” rather than the extremely poor condition suggested by the media at the time. The second aircraft according to Polyet, is expected to be rolled out by the year-end, with the remaining three during 2002, the last two aircraft having been received by the plant from the air force in the latter part of 2000. Currently Aviastar's two An-124 production bays are occupied by Polyet aircraft undergoing production and repair and according to reports is supplying almost half the Aviastar's turnover. The programme is however, running somewhat behind the original timetable, with Noginsky stating in September 2000, that the first aircraft was expected at the end of 2000, followed by another in the first quarter of 2001 and an additional two aircraft by the end of this year. Suggesting that the 6-12 months originally envisaged by General Director Anatoly Karpov, when he first negotiated for aircraft from the air force's 26 aircraft fleet, failed to fully assess either the condition of the aircraft or the investment required. The aircraft will join the two An-124-100s that the airline currently has in service and have recently been in the news delivering humanitarian air to flood victims in Central Russia and Yakutia and more notoriously recovering the US Navy's EP-3 from Hainan Island in China.

Article ID: 2637