AIR FOYLE, ANTONOV BUY TWO AN-124 FREIGHTERS

   Air Foyle, the British all-cargo charter airline, said that Antonov
Design Bureau, its partner in the oversized cargo market, has purchased its seventh and eighth AN-124-100 freighters from Russia’s state transportation company Rossiya.
   The announcement comes after HeavyLift-VolgaDnepr, the oversized air freight partnership of HeavyLift Cargo Airlines and Russian carrier
Volga-Dnepr Airlines, said they had obtained two additional AN-124s, the largest freighters in the world.
   Competition for dominance in the over-sized freight market appears to be heating up between Air Foyle and HeavyLift.
   Air Foyle said that Antonov Design Bureau, whose commercial operations have been renamed Antonov Airlines, expects to take delivery of its ninth AN-124 after it is returned by HeavyLift. Aviant, an aircraft factory in Russia, has claimed ownership in court of one of the aircraft leased to HeavyLift partner Volga-Dnepr, Air Foyle said.
  Both Air Foyle and HeavyLift serve as general sales agents for their
Russian partners, who operate the huge AN-124s with 20-man crews.