VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / MOSCOW
Aeroflot's deal for four McDonnell Douglas freighters highlights problems for Russian widebody cargo aircraft
Aeroflot is to boost its McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 freighter fleet to four as it looks increasingly unlikely that it will ever operate the Ilyushin Il-96T cargo aircraft.
Three new DC-10-30Fs are being acquired on long-term lease from Boeing Capital, which will supplement the existing freighter also leased from the US manufacturer. Two of the new aircraft, understood to be ex-British Airways, will be delivered in August and November. The third, an ex-JMC Airways machine, will enter service in early 2002 after cargo conversion.
According to Aeroflot's commercial director Eugeny Bachurin, the DC-10 freighters will be operated on regular cargo services between Western Europe and South-East Asia with a stopover at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. "We have given up all hope of seeing the Il-96T operational," he says. The airline expects the expansion of the DC-10 fleet will enable its cargo operation to become profitable, as it boosts its trans-Siberian route network and builds up customers.
The airline has a long standing order for three Pratt & Whitney PW2337-powered Il-96T widebody freighters, but delivery has been delayed by financial difficulties at the Ilyushin design bureau and the VASO production plant in Voronezh, as well as a lack of funding. The type achieved Russian and US Federal Aviation Administration certification in 1998 and 1999 respectively, but the only production example built to date needs replacement of some components before it can enter service.
Ilyushin has yet to issue a full set of operational documentation. "We have no idea when Ilyushin can finally make the aircraft service ready," says Bachurin, adding that Aeroflot would take delivery of the aircraft when it gets "properly outfitted". Plans to convert Il-96-300 passenger aircraft to cargo configuration were dropped after studies revealed that introduction of a cargo door could cause a considerable reduction in airframe strength.
Meanwhile, Aeroflot is looking to replace Tupolev Tu-134 twinjets on short-haul routes, and has plans to lease at least 12 40-70 seaters.
Source: Flight International
