TIACA TO LOBBY EU TO LIFT BAN ON IL-76 FREIGHTERS

TIACA TO LOBBY EU TO LIFT BAN ON IL-76 FREIGHTERS    The Commonwealth of Independent States chapter of the International Air Cargo Association said it intends to appeal to the European Union to reconsider its ban on IL-76 freighters, which is scheduled to take effect next April.
   The EU requires that the IL-76s, which have 45 tons of capacity, must be re-engined or fitted with hush kits in order to meet Stage 3 noise regulations, or be withdrawn from service.
   The CIS chapter of TIACA argues that the IL-76 freighter is a vital part of the region's air cargo market, and that there is no sufficient replacement aircraft to handle the heavy and outsized cargo market.
   The TIACA chapter agreed at a recent conference in Kiev to establish a special commission to present the case for the IL-76 to the European Union and CIS regulatory bodies. The commission will e headed by Genrich Novozhilov, designer general of Illyushin Design Bureau, and Alexey Isaikin, president of TIACA's Russian/CIS chapter and director general of Volga-Dnepr Airlines.
   Alexander Neradko, Russia's first deputy minister of transportation and director of the State Service of Civil Aviation, said his country was “prepared to develop financing arrangements that would be reliable enough for investors and could be used to upgrade the CIS ramp freighters. We are also ready to take the necessary steps to protect the interests of Russian and CIS cargo aviation before the EC governments.” Neradko's remarks were made at the TIACA conference.