Where will IL 96 go?

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   On the 4th October two companies started using IL 96-200: Aeroflot (flights to Shanghai and Delhi) and AiRUnion (flight to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). It happened right after Rostransnadzor gave permission to recommence the flights on Monday, October 3rd. Earlier liners of that type were withdrawn from operation. The reason for that was the necessity to eliminate technological drawbacks, in particular a defect in wheels brake-gear.
   According to BANKO Information Service sources, IL 96 300 will traditionally make both regular (Far East, Sakhalin, Kamchatka) and charter (Goa, Thailand) flights. At present such planes are owned by Aeroflot, KrasAir, STC Russia, and Domodedovo Airlines (13 planes in Russia on the whole).
   Representatives of Russian airlines confessed to BANKO reporter that temporary ban of IL planes has caused a lot of inconveniences. For example, according to Aeroflot press service, this transporter has recently had to rent liners of other types from other companies and break its timetable, so the return of IL 96 planes was long awaited. ‘We used IL 62 or Boeing 767 for long distance flights, and had to use either two planes at the same time, or transferred flights,’ says Natalya Komlik, spokesperson for Domodedovo Airlines. Ivan Popov, deputy director general for production of AiRUnion alliance that unites KrasAir and Domodedovo Airlines, noted that IL 96 300 ban has lead to serious delays of regular flights and had a negative effect on the charter program of the alliance. Several flights, Tenerife chain in particular, had to be handed over to rival transporters. Charter program to Saloniki and Rimini was under threat, and according to Mr. Popov, the volume of the company’s charter transportations has lowered by 30%.