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

Airbus Beluga Transport aims for 4Q23 launch

Airbus Beluga Transport (Toulouse Blagnac) aims to complete its certification drive in October 2023 and launch operations using five A300-600ST Belugas under its own AOC, managing director Benoit Lemonnier said during the Air Cargo Conference in Frankfurt.

As reported by the Deutsche Verkehrs-Zeitung, the fully-owned Airbus SE subsidiary will take over all five aircraft from sister carrier Airbus Transport International (4Y, Toulouse Blagnac) and proffer them to third-party customers. The European holding aims to utilise the type's unique outsized cargo capabilities to attract customers from the military, industrial, and resource sectors. Lemonnier pointed out that with the drop in the number of available An-124 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and sanctions imposed on the type's operator, Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VI, Ulyanovsk Vostochny), there was a lot of demand for such aircraft.

Due to its specific nose-loading design, the Belugas require the use of dedicated loading platforms. Lemonnier said Airbus has currently positioned six such platforms at strategically important airports - Marseilles, Toulouse Blagnac, and...

Kyiv nationalises six engines of Russia’s Volga-Dnepr

Kyiv to confiscate Volga-Dnepr Airlines' engines

Russia's Volga-Dnepr threatens arbitration re seized An-124

Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VI, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) has sent a formal notice to the Canadian government demanding the return of an An-124-100 grounded at Toronto Pearson, and will resort to international arbitration if the matter is not resolved in the next six months, the Interfax news agency has reported.

The Russian cargo specialist invoked the 1989 Russia-Canada bilateral investment treaty, Article IX of which gives any disgruntled investor the right to an international arbitration tribunal six months after a formal notice of the dispute has been issued.

"Volga-Dnepr remains open to negotiations with Canadian representatives to resolve the issue and return the aircraft," the airline said.

"The Government of Canada is assessing the letter. We will continue to defend the interests of Canadians," a government spokesperson told public broadcaster CBC.

RA-82078 (msn 9773054559153) has been grounded at Toronto Pearson airport since February 27, 2022, when Volga-Dnepr Airlines operated a commercial charter from China to Canada carrying COVID-19 tests procured by the Canadian government. However, once Canada joined the European Union and the United...