Air-taxi operator Dexter is broadening its on-demand and scheduled services within Russia as it prepares to expand its turboprop fleet.
The Moscow-based company, which began services in July last year, offers scheduled flights linking six cities from Moscow Bykovo airport and recently added Izhevsk and Perm in the Urals, western Russia. Dexter's ad hoc service is also proving popular, linking dozens of destinations outside Moscow, says the operator
"We're barely keeping pace with strong demand fuelled by the country's economic growth," it continues, citing a 20% month-on-month growth in revenue sales and cabin loads averaging 75-80%. "We would have developed faster had there been greater capacity at our disposal."
Dexter is scheduled to receive shortly a second Pilatus PC-12 single-engined turboprop, and three more next year. Overall, Dexter has ordered 25 of the type and 45 Russian-built Myasichev M101T turbine singles, of which eight have already entered service.
The operator has identified St Petersburg as a key destination from which to expand its non-scheduled PC-12-based operation, while a number of industrial cities between the Volga river and the Urals, such as Ufa, could serve as bases for Dexter's scheduled operation, it says.
"We will probably establish another operational base in Rostov-on-Don or Krasnodar to specifically serve southern regions and increase aircraft utilisation rate," says Dexter.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
