Russian carrier Red Wings has commenced cargo operations with the inaugural flight of its Ilyushin-96-400T, which flew from Turkmenbashi to Moscow on 10 December.
The flight marks a new era of operations for the Russian carrier, which bought out cargo specialists Sky Gates Airlines in August 2023. ‘The cargo fleet will consist of domestically produced aircraft, including those that have undergone the procedure for restoring airworthiness at the aircraft factories of the United Aircraft Corporation’, notes Red Wings.
The cargo carrier’s fleet comprises of two aircraft which have been restored to airworthiness. The general director of the aircraft owners Ilyushin Finance and Co, Mikhail Podkhvatilin, described the flight as “the result of a lot of joint work, including the government’s decision to restore the airworthiness of a number of aircraft, a set of works at the manufacturing plant in Voronezh, and the supply of all the necessary components”.
“The return of Sky Gates Airlines to the cargo transportation market as an operator of Russian aviation is an ambitious task that pursues several goals,” explained CEO of Red Wings Evgeny Solodilin, adding that the project “also requires a systematic approach to the training and retraining of flight personnel to pilot these types of aircraft”.