Volga-Dnepr - Russia Airlines

Volga-Dnepr Group of Companies
The establishment and organizational structuring of the Volga-Dnepr Group of Companies dates back to 2001. The strategic development plan implemented by the Company management resulted in a new product now available on the international market, which is a global cargo transportation service using unique An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft. The Volga-Dnepr Group of Companies is a customer-oriented company with dynamic growth rates and high-level professionalism, with a widespread network of offices and subsidiaries across the world. Volga-Dnepr is the market leader not only because it has a technical edge, but also, to a great extent, due to its professionally trained international team of employees and modern management techniques.

Managing Company Volga-Dnepr-Moscow
The Company was established in 2001. It is in charge of centralizing the overlapping functions performed by the companies within the Group, developing and monitoring implementation of the single Group development strategy and complying with common management standards, consolidation and rational use of intellectual and financial resources, centralization of monitoring over the financial and economic activities and ensuring economic security of the companies that are part of the Group. The management company is responsible for coordinating the work of all its components and ensuring that their work is geared toward common goal.

Volga-Dnepr Airlines
The Volga-Dnepr Airline Company was established in 1990 and currently leads the air transportation international market for extra-heavy and oversize cargo dominating 56% of the market. The international air cargo transportation accounts for over 95% of the total cargo transportation. Licenses to scheduled and charter flights to more than 140 countries allow the company to service its customers virtually anywhere in the world. Over the entire period of its work, the Volga-Dnepr Company made flights to over 900 airports located in 140 countries.

The unique heavy-duty cargo aircraft An-124-100 Ruslan with a payload capacity of up to 120 tonnes and the cockpit space of 750 m3 is the mainstay of the fleet. The Volga-Dnepr air company operates 10 An-124-100 aircraft, 3 Il-76 aircraft, 1 Il-76TD-90VD aircraft, and 6 Yak-40 aircraft.

The Company leads the industry in the area of development and introduction of new technologies for operation of An-24-100. The unique aircraft capabilities as well as the loading equipment developed by the Volga-Dnepr specialists make it possible to transport breakbulk cargo, which was previously transported using only ground and sea transportation, including the following: heavy engines and generators, oil and gas pumping stations, reactors and satellites, aircraft and helicopters, motor boats and yachts, heavy-duty quarry-mining and wheel-mounted equipment.

Since 1992, the Volga-Dnepr Company has always participated in UN peace-keeping and humanitarian missions. The Company enjoys the official UN carrier status since 1994, and has been on the UN supplier roster since 1995.

The Volga-Dnepr air company has been certified to service all stages of full air company production cycle ranging from training flight crews and making international flights to carrying out all kinds of aircraft maintenance. The maintenance standards have been approved by the US and British aviation authorities (FAA and CAA).

Volga-Dnepr constantly keeps an eye on complying with the international aviation standards for flight safety. The air companyÌs compliance with the international standards has been confirmed by the Russian Civil Aviation National Service, and audits by the American (FAA) and British (CAA) aviation authorities. The Volga-Dnepr Company holds an honorary certificate by the International Aviation Safety Foundation.

The Volga-Dnepr air company is registered with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and is a full-fledged member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), member of the International Air Cargo Association (TIACA). The Volga-Dnepr Company employs about 1,800 highly skilled employees of different specialties, who stand behind efficient work of all company units.

The Volga-Dnepr client list includes such recognized leaders as Lockheed Martin, The Boeing Company, Airbus Industrie, Alcatel, Astrium, Bombardier Shorts, British Petroleum, Exxon Mobile, British Aerospace, General Electric, Bedford Group, Ericsson Air Crane, Starsem, governments of many countries and authoritative international organizations.

During three consecutive years, 1997, 1998, and 1999, the Volga-Dnepr air company was winner of the national air company prize Wings of Russia in the category Domestic and International Transportation Carrier. The Volga-Dnepr Company won the Wings of Russia prize in 2005 and 2006.

The air company won the prestigious award by the largest in the world Air Transport World (USA) aviation magazine in the Development of Cargo Transportation category in February 2001.

In February 2001, the Volga-Dnepr Company received the Aerospace Laurels-2002 prize awarded by the prestigious American weekly Aviation Week Space Technology in the category Commercial Air Transport The year 2004 brought another prestigious international award to the Group of Companies. In February 2004, the Volga-Dnepr Company was declared winner of the Flight Aerospace Industry Award instituted by the leading European aerospace magazine Flight International in the category Corporate Strategy for implementation of a corporate strategy geared toward business development on the market of super heavy and oversize cargo.

Passenger Operations, a Volga-Dnepr Subsidiary
The Passenger Operations subsidiary was established in 1996 and engages in scheduled and charter passenger service. Daily flights between Ulyanovsk, the airline's headquarters, and Moscow, as well as air lines Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow Ò Penza enjoy a priority status in the operations of the subsidiary. During the summer, flights are scheduled from Moscow and Ulyanovsk to the Black Sea resort areas in Russia. Currently, the fleet operated by the subsidiary includes five YaK-40 aircraft. The future subsidiary development plan includes expansion of the flight geography and replacement of the fleet with newer aircraft.

AirBridge Cargo
In order to provide extra opportunities to its customers, and launch new services on the international market of scheduled air cargo transportation, the Volga-Dnepr Group has founded in 2004 a company specializing in scheduled cargo transportation between Europe and Asia via Russia using the Boeing-747 aircraft. The AirBridge Cargo performed its inaugural flight in May 2004. Taking advantage of RussiaÌs suitable geographical location on the way from Europe to Asia, AirBridge Cargo makes scheduled flights from the European hubs to China and Japan via Moscow and Krasnoyarsk. In accordance with the existing business plan, the aircraft fleet will receive at least one additional Boeing-747 each year. The Company plans to use Tu-204, Il-96 and Il-76 on its regional routes.

Volga-Dnepr U† Ltd.
Volga-Dnepr UK Ltd. Is based at Stansted, United Kingdom, and engages in coordination of the airline operations in Europe, which is one of the Volga-Dnepr priority markets. Volga-Dnepr UK employs Russian personnel and British managers. The Company has all the necessary services in place, including commercial, flight operations, navigation, load planning, financial, etc. Today, Volga-Dnepr UK is the main marketing and sales agent within the Group for An-124-100 Ruslan cargo transportation services.

Branch Office of Volga-Dnepr U† Ltd. in Amsterdam
The new representative office will increase the efficiency of operations in Western Europe. The Amsterdam Schiphol airport is a major European hub, which has strategic importance for implementation of the AirBridge Cargo project.

Volga-Dnepr - Unique Air Cargo Inc.
Volga-Dnepr - Unique Air Cargo Inc. was established in Houston, Texas in December 2000 to operate on the North and South American markets. This is a most important market for the Group, which accounts for about 30% of the total Volga-Dnepr operations on the foreign market.

Volga-Dnepr Ireland Ltd.
Volga-Dnepr Ireland Ltd was established in Shannon, Ireland in 1998 for An-124-100 routine maintenance. The maintenance line station has a production base that is needed to perform the entire range of maintenance work for An-124-100 aircraft.

At Shannon, the Volga-Dnepr personnel perform regular Ruslan aircraft technical maintenance, repairs of parts in lab conditions, ship parts and replacement units to airports around the world, and also take care of malfunctions that are caused by the aircraft routine operation. In addition to that, the maintenance line station carries out maintenance, repairs and operation of special equipment for transporting breakbulk cargo.

Volga-Dnepr Gulf Ltd.
The Volga-Dnepr Gulf, Ltd. servicing station was set up in Sharjah (UAE) in 1996. It has highly skilled personnel and is equipped to perform the full maintenance cycle for An-124, An-12, An-32, An-26, Il-76 and Tu-154 aircraft. In addition to providing maintenance for the Volga-Dnepr aircraft, the line station offers third-party maintenance and repair to Russian and foreign airlines operating in this region

Volga-Dnepr China
The Volga-Dnepr China Company was launched at the end of 1994 in Beijing, China. The company provides support for the airlineÌs scheduled and charter flights, and co-ordinates the GroupÌs activities in Southeast Asia and China. The Volga-Dnepr air company is the designated cargo carrier from Russia to China.

Volga-Dnepr-Leasing
The company has been established to consolidate organizational and financial resources with the view to implement the Il-76 aircraft fleet upgrading project and organize management for this large-scale project. The renovated Il-76TD-90VD aircraft will be outfitted with PS-90A-76 engines and improved avionics. Il-76TD-90VD will meet all requirements and restrictions imposed by ICAO.

NIK insurance company
NIK Insurance Company was established in 1995 to provide reliable insurance protection covering major aviation risks. Currently, NIK is one of the top 20 largest and fastest-growing companies in the area of aviation insurance. Most of the risks are re-insured with American International Group (AIG), a major international insurance company. Re-insurance is carried out by the UK-based Willis Company of LloydÌs, one of the world's leading insurance brokers.

NIK offers full range of insurance services for the Russian airlines, including liability coverage, insurance of aircraft and crews. Volga-Dnepr insures its entire aircraft fleet, property, motor vehicle fleet and employees with the NIK Company. In addition to that, NIK is actively engaged in the development of non-aviation insurance business.

Volga-Trucks
The branch engaged in truck haulage was set up as a motor vehicle unit of the Volga-Dnepr air company in 1994 to support core business activities and offer customers an enhanced range of services. The company is an active ASMAP member, and is licensed as an all-Russian customs carrier. The current motor vehicle fleet of the Company includes 17 heavy-duty trucks, of which 12 are western-made.

In 2003, the Company carried almost 30,000 tonnes of cargo mostly across the European part of Russia for such companies as Sladko, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Volzhanka, and Peter-Line.

Volga-Dnepr International Educational Center
The Volga-Dnepr International Learning non-government educational facility is a Volga-Dnepr Company branch established in 1994 to provide additional training in general and specialized knowledge of the English language for aviation professionals and other categories of students. About 2,000 students take language courses at the Volga-Dnepr Group of language schools yearly. Volga-Dnepr International Educational Center obtained the status of an Aviation Training Center in the summer of 2004. The Aviation Training Center has been certified by the Russian Transportation Ministry Office for Certification of the Civil Aviation Operators. In accordance with the certificate, the existing 10 language programs have been supplemented with 82 professional training, refresher and advanced training programs for aviation specialists in the areas covering Volga-Dnepr core business, which is cargo air transportation using all types of aircraft under operation, including An-124-100 Ruslan, Il-76, Boeing-747 and passenger YaK-40 aircraft.

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