Russia's Volga-Dnepr Group commits to Krasnoyarsk hub

Ukraine prepares to seize Volga-Dnepr An-124 - PM

Canada sanctions Volga-Dnepr Group, UZGA

The government of Canada has updated its list of sanctioned Russian entities, adding Volga-Dnepr Group with all of its subsidiaries and aircraft manufacturer UZGA (Russian Federation) (Ekaterinburg).

The sanctioned Volga-Dnepr Group entities include Volga-Dnepr Airlines (which operates Soviet-made freighters: An-124-100s and Il-76TD-90VDs), AirBridgeCargo (which operates Western-made freighters: B747-400ERFs, B747-8Fs, and a single B777-200F), and narrowbody specialist Atran (with a fleet of a single B737-400(SF) and six B737-800(BCF)s).

Due to sanctions previously imposed on Russian airlines by other countries, only Volga-Dnepr Airlines is currently active, while the two carriers operating Western-made freighters are dormant.

The Canadian government also sanctioned Alexey Isaikin, the founder and, until recently, owner of Volga-Dnepr Group. Isaikin sold the company to management in mid-2022 to allow it to avoid sanctions.

Volga-Dnepr Group and its subsidiary airlines are not specially designated by the United States or the European Union, although they fall under the blanket sanctions imposed on the Russian aviation sector that practically ban any deals with...

Creditors of UK's CargoLogicAir likely to be paid in full

Creditors owed money by CargoLogicAir (P3, London Stansted) can expect to be paid in full, but payment may take some time, say the airline's administrators. Per a FlightGlobal report, administrators Buchler Phillips Limited are negotiating their way around the international sanctions regime to access the funds.

CargoLogicAir went into administration in November 2022 after failing to find a UK bank willing to do business with it. The cargo carrier is ultimately owned by Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VI, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) founder and (until recently) CEO Alexei Isaikin. In June 2022, Isaikin was added to the list of high-profile Russians subject to UK sanctions, which included an asset freeze and travel ban that still remains in force.

"(Isaikin is) a director (or equivalent) of a company carrying on business in a sector of strategic significance (the transport sector) to the government of Russia, and therefore is or has been involved in obtaining a benefit or supporting the government of Russia," says the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

In the wake of Russia's invasion...

Russia’s Volga-Dnepr owes C$305,655 in fees for An-124

An An-124-100 freighter belonging to Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VI, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) that was seized at Toronto Pearson Airport ten months ago has racked up CAD305,655 Canadian dollars (USD224,055) in “parking fees” but is not going anywhere anytime soon, Canada’s transport minister Omar Alghabra has said.

RA-82078 (msn 9773054559153) was detained on February 28 as Western countries began to impose sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine four days previously. The aircraft had been carrying Covid-19 testing kits ordered by the Canadian government from China. The seizure of the Antonov Design Bureau quadjet came after the European Union and Canada - but before the United States - initiated airspace bans paralysing the movement of aircraft operated by Russian airlines carrying passengers or cargo.

Alghabra told the Mississauga news site Insauga that the stranded aircraft will not be using Canadian airspace until Russia’s war in Ukraine is over, and it will stay where it is until further notice. A Transport Canada spokesperson had similarly told the site in August that it...