A conference devoted to the problems of resuming the production of An-124 aircraft took place in the network of International Air Transport Forum 2012 (IATF-2012), press-service of Volga-Dnepr reports. AEX.ru

The conference organized by Volga-Dnepr was attended by representatives of United Aircraft Corporation, Antonov state enterprise, Motor Sich, Ivchenko-Progress state enterprise, Kuznetsov, Aviastar-SP, Boeing, Honeywell and other representatives of government institutions and enterprises of the aircraft industry.

The following problems were discussed during the conference: development prospects of the global air-freight operation market (in the context of transportation of unique and outsized cargo using An-124 aircraft), prospects and measures for resuming the production of An-124 aircraft. The requirements to a new concept of the manufactured jet from the standpoint of commercial operators were announced.

«The concept of new An-124 has already been defined taking into account the latest international requirements to the civil aircraft and challenges of the fast-growing global air freight market. It is very important that the clear understanding of further strategy on provision and usage of available competitive advantages connected with this unique jet has been formed», – Technical Director of Volga-Dnepr Group, Viktor Tolmachev, said.

«Taking into account the disposal of existing aircraft, the number of An-124 jets required for servicing the growing cargo traffic will be 70-80 ones by 2030 (including 40 jets for the needs of Volga-Dnepr)», - Vice-president on charter cargo services, Volga-Dnepr, Valery Gabriel. 

«I am confident that Aviastar-SP is able to resume the production of An-124”, - said CEO of Aviastar-SP, Sergey Dementyev. «We have kept all the capacities, but we are losing the most valuable thing – people, who were manufacturing the aircraft. That is why I believe it is time to make the final decision – whether to resume the production of Ruslans or not».