Volga-Dnepr Group posts $308 revenue after nine months

Volga-Dnepr Group posts $308 revenue after nine months    Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Group, parent company of Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridge Cargo reported revenue of $308 million for the first nine months of 2005 and forecast year-end revenue of more than $420 million.
   In the nine months ended Sept. 31, Volga-Dnepr Airlines posted revenue of $189 million, up 10 percent from the same period last 2004. According to Volga-Dnepr, the airline controls 54 percent of the outsize and heavyweight cargo sector.
   Volga-Dnepr’s scheduled cargo airline AirBridge Cargo, established May 2004, posted revenue of $65.4 million after carrying 26,412 tons in the nine-month period.
   Volga-Dnepr’s fleet comprises 10 Antonov AN124-100 aircraft, three Ilyushin IL-76TD’s, six Yak-40’s and three converted Boeing 747 freighter planes operated by AirBridge Cargo between Asia and Europe through Russia.
   Stan Wraight, vice president of Volga-Dnepr, scheduled cargo operations, said AirBridge Cargo’s nine-month sales were hampered by a 13-week period in the summer when only one Boeing 747F was operational due to late-delivery and maintenance issues.
   AirBridge Cargo plans to start a round-the-world scheduled service calling China, western Russia, Europe, North America, and the Russian Far East. Wraight said the airline will serve Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Montreal airports in North America. “The opportunity for growth is huge. We are just lacking the fleet right now,” Wraight said.
   In November, AirBridge Cargo ordered two 747-400ER freighters with a $450 million list price from Boeing. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in October 2007 and February 2008.
   AirBridge Cargo will also take delivery of some of the modernized IL-76TD-90VD freighter aircraft due for delivery to Volga-Dnepr through 2011. The new fleet will open to Volga-Dnepr the markets of Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan, that barred the old IL-76TD-90VD for failing to meet the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) noise regulations.
   The Russian airline group is also leading a group of aircraft designers and manufacturers in a two-stage project to restart serial production of the AN-124-100, the world’s largest cargo aircraft, originally built for the Soviet military. The AN-124-100M-150 aircraft will have a payload capacity of 150 tons over 3,400 kilometers and 120 tons over 5,400 kilometers. The first plane will be ready in 2008 with series production of three planes per year scheduled from 2010. By 2027, Volga-Dnepr anticipates sales of between 50 to 55 AN-124-100M-150’s at about $100 million each.
   The second stage of the project will involve the production from 2018 of a new AN-124-300 with western engines and avionics. Series production of the AN-124-300 has been earmarked for 2020 with three planes per year until 2035.
   Volga-Dnepr said that it is looking for $407 million investment for the first stage and $1.08 billion for the second phase.