RuAviation

AirBridgeCargo aircraft with registration RA-96103 has been spotted parked at the Pridacha Voronezh Aircraft Production Association (VASO) airfield.

Earlier in March this year, photos of this ‘IL’ moving without keel, engines and wingtips to one of the VASO workshops had been posted on the web. The new photo of the plane already at the aerodrome car park indicates that the repair-restoration work is completed.

The IL-96-400T (RA-96103) was built at VASO and made its maiden flight in September 2009. In December of the same year, the aircraft was named after Stanislav Bliznyuk, and from December 28, 2009 to June 2013 it was operated by the Voronezh company Poliyot, which went bankrupt in 2016.

AirBridgeCargo expects that after the airline completes its airworthiness restoration work, the aircraft will join the fleet and make its first flight on the Moscow-Beijing route in June. Subsequently, it will be operated on a regular basis to ensure uninterrupted air traffic between Russia and China.

This is AirBridgeCargo’s second attempt to acquire Ilyushin-96 freighters. In 2005, the airline signed a contract for two IL-96-400Ts with Ilyushin Finance for delivery in 2006, but it was not implemented.

In March 2022, AirBridgeCargo and Atran, part of Volga-Dnepr Group, suspended all flights amid anti-Russian sanctions. These companies were operating only American Boeing aircraft. The parent company of Volga-Dnepr Group continued to operate AN-124-100/150 and IL-76TD-90VD. At the same time, the media reported the seizure of several An-124s outside the Russian Federation, including in Toronto. One of them is going to be illegally handed over to the Kiev regime by the Canadian government.