Volga-Dnepr receives An-124-100 STC

Moscow, 17 August 2005 - Volga-Dnepr Group has received a Supplemental Type Certificate STC) for the AN-124-100 cargo aircraft from the Russian Air Register of Interstate Aviation Committee, allowing operations with 402 tonnes maximum take-off weight and 150 tonnes maximum payload.

The STC was issued to Ukraine-based Antonov Design Bureau, the designer of the AN-124 freighter. Copies were subsequently presented to Aviastar-SP, the aircraft manufacturer, and Volga-Dnepr Group, the leading operator of the type.

Issuance of the STC for extended freight capacity marks the first step towards building the AN-124-100M-150 model of the aircraft, an enhanced version of the Ruslan freighter aircraft.

The AN124-100 aircraft is one of the largest in the world and performed its first flight in 1982. The aircraft was produced using up to 500 factories from around the former Soviet Union. The final aircraft was produced at the Aviastar factory in Ulyanovsk and the Aviant factory in Kiev. 56 aircraft were produced in total and, today, around half of them are in commercial use.

During 2003, the first step towards the modernisation and reproduction of the AN124-100 aircraft was started at the MAKS-2003 show in Moscow. During the show, the Volga-Dnepr Group and Antonov Design Bureau signed an agreement preparing the programme, together with support from the aviation authorities of both Russia and the Ukraine.

The new production AN124 will be equipped with new avionic systems, modern power engines, larger tonnage capacity and longer flying range.

The Russian and Ukrainian collaboration on this project should boost Russian aircraft building opportunities and help to keep both countries at the forefront of the world cargo transportation market. The restoration project of the AN124, together with the government supported modernisation of the IL-76 aircraft, could be one of the most ambitious projects for Russian aviation for the foreseeable future.