MOSCOW. (Yuri Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - The Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP aircraft factory has resumed batch production of Russian-Ukrainian Antonov An-124 Condor (Ruslan) long-range heavy transports. Its production capacity is 50 aircraft per year.
The global air-freight market, which has posted 13% annual growth in the last decade, now has a volume of over 125,000 tons. Experts said annual cargo-traffic volumes could reach 350,000-400,000 tons, or $1-1.5 billion, by 2020. The world's heaviest An-124-100 with a record-breaking load-carrying capacity of up to 150 tons, which has defeated the C-17 Globemaster III in a recent tender, will carry NATO troops. There are plans to lease six An-124s for a period of three years under the January 2006 SALIS (Strategic Airlift Interim Solution) contract, which can be extended until 2012. Two An-124 aircraft are currently located at Germany's Leipzig-Halle airport, while four other reserve aircraft remain in Russia and Ukraine. Annual lease proceeds are $220 million.
The first production of the An-124 transport, which was assembled in Ulyanovsk, took off on its maiden flight in October 1985. At that time, it was intended to build 60 An-124s in Ulyanovsk and another 36 in Kiev. But production stopped in late 1991 with the break up of the U.S.S.R. and only 48 aircraft rolled off the assembly line.
Although the An-124 was officially adopted in early 1991, the military-transport command started operating the aircraft in 1987. These military transports also began carrying civilian consignments in the late 1980s.
It was subsequently decided to develop and certify the cost-effective An-124's civilian version, the An-124-100, which first took to the skies in June 1991. Four An-120-100s were assembled in Kiev, and another three in Ulyanovsk. However, their batch production was stopped in 1994-1995. Fifteen previously assembled An-124 military transports were converted into An-124-100 aircraft. Production of four aircraft was mothballed in the mid-1990s; however, Ulyanovsk and Kiev recently completed three and one An-124 aircraft each. Although a contract was signed with the Moscow municipal government Atlant-Soyuz airline, the last airplane from Kiev went to the United Arab Emirates. Until then, a Libyan freight company, which received two An-124-100s from Ukraine in 2001-2002, was the only foreign legal entity to operate these planes.
Russian and Ukrainian companies operating successfully on this global market segment deliver unique and bulky loads aboard An-124-100 planes. The Ulyanovsk enterprise's management discussed the resumption of An-124 production for several years because additional aircraft were needed in order to cope with expanded freight-traffic volumes. But this project did not take off the ground until now.
The concerned Russian and Ukrainian agencies have approved an action plan stipulating high-priority aircraft-production measures. A business plan and a feasibility study have been completed, and production is to resume in the near future. The project is to be financed out of several sources, including corporate funds and government credit guarantees. The Russian government provides initial financial support in exchange for aircraft-sale proceeds. The Ulyanovsk-based Volga-Dnepr company specializing in heavy-lift operations and Polyot Airlines from Voronezh have signed a preliminary contract with Aviastar-SP on the delivery of five An-124-100s for each company starting in 2008. Both companies require 15 and 5-8 aircraft, respectively. Ukraine's Antonov Airlines and Atlant-Soyuz would also be expected to buy several Ruslan planes, and the United Arab Emirates may require four to ten aircraft. NATO and the European Union, which also need aircraft of this type, can rent, lease or purchase them, while Volga-Dnepr has already created warranty and post-warranty support facilities in Europe.
Batch production of the revamped An-124-100M-150 with a load-carrying capacity of 150 tons is to resume soon. Each of these aircraft has better equipment and is crewed by four, rather than six, pilots.
Ruslan planes, as well as the world's only An-225 Cossack (Mriya - Dream) transport with a 250-ton load-carrying capacity, were fitted with D-18T turbofan engines developing a thrust of 23,430 kg each. All commercial An-124-100 aircraft have third-series D-18-T engines, which can also be installed on new upgraded planes, whose production is resuming in Ulyanovsk. But Ukraine now offers the more dependable and fuel-efficient fourth-series D-18T aircraft engines for An-124-100M-150 heavy-lift cargo jets. These high-thrust engines, which match tougher International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirements, have a longer service life.
Alexei Isaikin, chairman of the Aviastar-SP board of directors, who supervises resumed An-124 production, said this program would revive the national aircraft industry and help Russia and Ukraine retain their leading positions on the global air-freight market.
Yuri Zaitsev is an expert with the Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences.
