Title: Making An-124s.,  Air Cargo World
Database: Business Source Complete
 
Making An-124s
Section: News Updates

Russia's Volga-Dnepr Group plans to restart the production line of the oversized An-124 freighter, in a strong show of confidence in the future of a project air cargo market the airline itself helped create.

The company, which also includes scheduled operator AirBridge Cargo, formed a joint venture with Ukrainian engine manufacturer Motor Sich to produce the An-124. Production of the aircraft was halted in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Volga-Dnepr will have a controlling 59 percent stake in the company. Flying Cargo Vehicles. Resuming production of the behemoth freighter will cost about $500 million, with the companies providing $100 million. The remaining funding will come from Russian and Ukrainian governments and private investors, according to Volga Dnepr Chief Executive Alexei Isaikin.

The new company will build two An-124s initially. The new version of the aircraft will have improved avionics, new engines and an increased payload capacity of up to 165 tonnes, 45 tonnes more than the present model.

They expect operating costs to be significantly less than the existing planes. The aircraft will require fewer than the current 18 crewmembers, which includes technicians.

The An-124 is a mainstay of the international air charter market, hauling oversized cargo that may include shipments such as satellites, fully-built assembly lines and transportation equipment. The airline competes with Polet Air Cargo and Antonov Airlines, an offshoot of the Antonov Design Bureau that first put the aircraft in the sky as a Soviet military cargo plane.

An estimated 27 An -124s are in commercial service, with Volga-Dnepr's 10 aircraft accounting for 56 percent of the global market for ultra-heavy cargo.

Volga-Dnepr, meantime, will take delivery of a second IL-76TD-90VD, a Russian-built freighter that has been re-engined to meet European environmental standards in the third quarter and expects a demand for at least 17 more of this type by 2011.