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Tag: Antonov

KrasAvia Boosts Regional Connectivity in Siberia With Two ATR 72 Aircraft

February 8, 2021 /

Toulouse, 8 February, 2021 – Russia’s KrasAvia started operating its first two ATR 72-500, the first ATR aircraft ever registered in Russia. Owned by the government of Krasnoyarsk Krai, KrasAvia is an airline based in Krasnoyarsk, the third largest city in Siberia, with a population of approximately 1.1 million people. KrasAvia operates scheduled and charter flights with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft on regional routes to Russia’s Far North from its Krasnoyarsk hub. The two ATR 72-500 have been purchased second-hand from Swedish lessor Erik Thun and the deal was arranged by Bertrand Lattes Aviation Capital (BLAC).

Air services are crucial to serve the remote regions of Siberia, and their challenging environment requires versatile and reliable aircraft able to take-off and land in extreme cold conditions. The route from Krasnoyarsk to Khatanga, near the Arctic Ocean, is one of the longest scheduled ATR routes (984NM / 1822km) – a four hour flight.

Andrey Egorov, General Director of KrasAvia, declared: “The acquisition of these two ATR 72-500 shows that we are ever more committed to improving our fleet and offering our passengers a smoother flying experience. They will replace our smaller Antonov An-24 and An-26 turboprop, which have reached over 40 years of service. Thanks to the ATR 72-500 versatility and modern and spacious cabin, we will continue to support the connectivity needs of the Siberian communities, with increased seat capacity and higher standards of comfort.”

Stefano Bortoli, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, said: “All regions deserve the same opportunity to be part of a connected world, and ATR aircraft show unrivalled performance in connecting people and businesses responsibly. The entry into service of these aircraft is highly significant, as KrasAvia is the first public airline in Russia to purchase and operate ATR. We are truly glad to see our aircraft continuing to support regional connectivity in the country.”

KrasAvia is the third largest ATR operator in Russia, after UTair and NordStar, which respectively operate a fleet of 15 ATR 72-500 and five ATR 42-500. The total ATR fleet in Russia now totals 22 aircraft, with their operational versatility and reliability being strong assets for their operators, to the benefit of the communities they serve.

The newer ATR-72-500’s are quite the upgrade from the old Antonov AN-24 aircraft!

Boeing Crushes Airbus On Farnborough Freighter Orders

August 2, 2018 /

Boeing scored a crushing victory at the 2018 Farnborough Air Show with orders for a total of 88 freighters. In comparison, Airbus had total freighter sales at the show of zero! This highlights the almost complete lack of competition for customers on the freighter front. The issue has caught the attention of Eric Schulz, the chief commercial officer at Airbus, and he has acknowleged that it’s time for his group to address the space.

Airbus does offer the A330-200F, which is a derivitive of its A330 jetliner family. Build at the factory as a freighter, it offers high efficiency operation andh less noise and emissions than other mid-sized cargo aircraft in service today. It also offers full operational commonality with the entire family of Airbus fly-by-wire airliners. Etihad Airways recently announced that it will be selling its five A330-200F cargo planes in an effort to focus on what it’s referring to as “core” routes out of Abu Dhabi.

Airbus also offers to convert A330’s from a passenger aircraft to freighter, called the A330P2F. The final offering in the linup is the A300-600ST. More commonly referred to as the Beluga, the plane has a modified cargo bay designed to transport oversized payloads. The 5 Beluga’s currently in service are all operated by Airbus to transport sections of Airbus aircrafft being assembled from one fatory to another.

Airbus had originally accepted orders for a freighter version of it’s flagship A380 aircraft. The plane boasted the largest payload capacity of any cargo aircraft in production, with the exception of two Antonov An-225 Mriya’s. Production of the A380 freighter was suspended in 2006 as the initial passenger aircraft delivery schedule was slipping due to manufacturing issues and the aircraft coming in over weight. Dubbed the A380F, the aircraft had attracted 27 orders after first being announced. Later, 20 of these orders were cancelled, with the remaining 7 being converted to the passenger version. The A380F was later completely removed from the Airbus website in 2015.

Image from www.airbus.com

Boeing To Help Ukrainian Plane Maker Antonov

July 28, 2018 /

KIEV (Reuters) –  Ukrainian plane maker Antonov, known for producing the world’s biggest aircraft, plans to restart serial production by the end of next year thanks to a deal with Boeing that will end Antonov’s dependence on Russia.

Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Antonov, which imported more than 60 percent of its plane parts from Russia, halted serial production two years later.

It now plans to build eight planes a year thanks to a deal with Aviall, Boeing’s parts, equipment and services unit, with the first two or three planes ready by the end of 2019, Antonov chief Oleksandr Donets told Reuters in an interview.

He gave no details on future customers. Antonov’s main sales markets have been Russia, the former Soviet republics and Africa.

The companies will jointly set up storage facilities in Ukraine by November, he said.

“(The agreement with) Aviall has given us two gains. We are setting up a joint warehouse, located on Ukrainian territory in (the city of) Gostomel,” Donets said.

“This warehouse will deal with products, materials, metals, non-metals – with all the components which we are not able to get from our former partner, the Russian Federation.” The warehouse could cost tens of millions of dollars, Donets added, to be funded by Aviall.

Antonov was founded in 1946 and has manufactured some 30 different types of airplane including the two biggest air cargo planes – the An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Mriya.

Mriya, built in 1988 for the Soviet space shuttle programme is still the world’s largest and heaviest plane which is able to carry a cargo of up to 250 tonnes.

Ukraine’s leaders are pushing the country on a pro-Western course, aspiring to join the European Union and NATO while cutting trade and diplomatic ties with Russia and weaning itself off dependence on Moscow in sectors like defence and energy.

Ukraine no longer imports any gas directly from Russia and in July completed another milestone as, for the first time, a unit at one of its nuclear power plants was fully loaded with fuel from U.S. firm Westinghouse rather than from Russia.

Aviall will support Antonov’s new manufacturing programme to build the AN-1X8 planes and will have exclusive rights to help service the planes, Donets said, envisaging that Aviall will source parts from the United States, Canada, Israel and Europe.

Antonov also wants Aviall to procure equipment for Antonov to produce more parts domestically, he said.

Boeing rival Airbus also made a recent foray into Ukraine, announcing an agreement in July to sell 55 helicopters to the interior ministry for search and rescue, public services and emergency medical service missions.

By Pavel Politick; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Alexandra Hudson

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