Russia 'urgently needs to develop airport infrastructure'

Moscow - Russia's fast-growing air cargo industry will play an increasingly important role in helping to develop a thriving economy as long as the country continues to develop its airport infrastructure to manage the growth in throughput, Volga-Dnepr group president Alexey Isaikin told a forum of top representatives from the largest businesses in Russia recently.

He said strong sustainable growth would see Russia benefit from higher than average gains in export and import traffic as well as the development of a substantial multi-billion dollar domestic air cargo market. This would also stimulate the market for Russian-built cargo aircraft and bring new employment and growth opportunities for businesses involved in supplying components and other services to aircraft manufacturers.

"Over five years, our scheduled cargo airline, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, has increased its cargo volume processed through Moscow's Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo Airports to 300,000 tonnes." he said.

"Our growth has served as the basis for the establishment and development of the elementary cargo infrastructure at the two leading airports of Russia and we hope their development will continue to keep pace with air cargo growth forecasts because this will bring important benefits to the Russian economy."

Isaikin said four modern cargo hubs in Moscow. St Petersburg, Vladivostok and Novosibirsk or Krasnoyarsk, each having one million tonne capacity, could generate US$24 billion of revenue from processing air cargo.

Isaikin also highlighted the development of air cargo services within Russia. He named FedEx as an example, which generates 40 percent of its revenue from domestic routes.

"If we are able to reproduce this business model in Russia - which is based on consistent development of regional air cargo services accommodated by cargo hubs - we will establish a market with a total size of $80 billion by the year 2030. This is a high-tech industry that represents a step beyond a raw materials-based economy," he said.

Isaikin outlined the scope of Volga-Dnepr's presence in the global air cargo market, achieved through active use of AN-124-100 Ruslan and IL-76 aircraft. The carrier has confirmed an order for 40 new AN-124 and 20 new IL-76 aircraft that has been placed with United Aircraft Corporation of Russia (UAC).

Isaikin said a well-developed tran-sportation system in Russia and inter-regional air logistics, would create favourable conditions for strong growth in the production industry.

"To ensure delivery of equipment between different regions for both mining and processing of natural resources, at least 200 aircraft will be required of various sizes and capacities - from one tonne to 20 tonnes. We now have a good outlook for business development over the next 20 years."