Volga-Dnepr Airlines, LLC () is an airline based in Ulyanovsk, Russia. It specializes in providing air charter services through all-cargo aircraft certified for global operations. Volga-Dnepr Airlines serves governmental and commercial organizations in the petrochemical, energy, aerospace, agriculture, and telecommunications industries well as humanitarian and emergency service organizations with its services through its 17 aircraft fleet. Its main base is Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport (ULY), Ulyanovsk and it has a hub at Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport (KJA), Krasnoyarsk. The airline also operates an operations base in Houston, Texas, USA at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
History
Formation through 2000
In August 1990, the airline was created as a joint stock company by its major shareholders: aircraft manufacturer Aviastar, aircraft manufacturer Aviant (now known as Antonov Serial Production Plant), aircraft design bureau Antonov Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex (now known as Antonov State Company), and aircraft engine manufacturer Progress Design Bureau (now known as Motor Sich). It started operations in October 1991, when it carried 120-ton cargo from Amsterdam to Almaty.
In April 1995, the airline hosted a meeting of companies involved in the design, manufacturing, and operation of the An-124, creating a Joint Coordination Council to plan and implement improvements for that aircraft model.
In November 1996, Volga-Dnepr began scheduled passenger service between Ulyanovsk and Moscow, using Yakovlev Yak-40 aircraft. In the following year, Volga-Dnepr expanded its scheduled passenger service to include St. Petersburg and Sochi, as well.
In 1997, the airline joined ATRAN and Atlant Soyuz to form an Association of Air Cargo Operators to represent the Russian cargo industry in negotiations with regulators.
Aviastar sold its 34% holding in the airline to Russian insurance firm NIK in 1999.
In April 2000, the privately owned Russian defense industry investor Kaskol Group acquired a 16% stake in the airline, of which the majority was from the Ukrainian state property fund. Kaskol later raised its stake to 49% of the airline. At the end of 2005, Kaskol sold its stake in the airline, due to its discontent with the company's management's strategy.
2001 to present
The airline terminated its joint venture with HeavyLift on 1 February 2001, with the stated reason to enable the airline to attract the investment that it needed to expand its fleet. The airline also set up marketing subsidiaries in London, UK and Houston, Texas.
Shortly afterward, HeavyLift joined its UK competitor, Air Foyle, which was the worldwide sales agent of Volga-Dnepr Airlines' Ukrainian competitor, Antonov Airlines, to form a new joint venture, Air Foyle HeavyLift.
In 2001, the Volga-Dnepr Group was formed, with Volga-Dnepr Airlines being its first company and the key element of its chartered cargo subgroup. In 2004, the Group created AirBridgeCargo to be the key element in the Group's scheduled cargo services subgroup.
In 2002, the airline suspended funding of an An-124-100M being produced by Aviastar due to a dispute between Aviastar and local politicians in Ulyanovsk in which the local government seized the aircraft. According to Volga-Dnepr, the founder of Aviastar refused to bribe local politicians and businessmen to secure their cooperation. Volga-Dnepr threatened to move its headquarters from Ulyanovsk at the time, saying that the airline was well known for having "a clear accounting system and good business reputation", and that it would move "from Ulyanovsk in order to preserve these qualities". The dispute was resolved and the airline resumed funding production of the aircraft.
The airline began flying chartered missions for the US Air Force Air Mobility Command in 2003, eventually ferrying thousands of tons of vital military equipment to U.S. operating forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2005, the airline established a subsidiary in Houston, Texas that committed to making An-124 aircraft available to Air Mobility Command in the event of a national emergency, qualifying Volga-Dnepr to bid for cargo charters from Air Mobility Command and other US government agencies.
In 2005, the airline and its Ukrainian competitor, Antonov Airlines, formed a partnership, Ruslan SALIS, which signed a three-year contract with NATO to provide strategic airlift services to the alliance's Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS). The contract was renewable through 2012 and required Ruslan to maintain two An-124 aircraft in a ready state in Leipzig, Germany, with an additional four An-124 aircraft available if needed.