Business & GA

Squeezed by the lack of domestically produced aircraft, Russian air-taxi operator Dexter has turned to Swiss manufacturer Pilatus to supply 25 PC-12 single-engined turboprops by 2011.

The Moscow-based company expects to receive three aircraft this year and five in 2008.

Dexter recently suspended scheduled flights to half a dozen cities and concentrated on providing on-demand services using only three Myasischev M101T single turboprops. The other five aircraft, produced by the Sokol aviation plant, are undergoing maintenance after logging a substantial number of flight hours.

Overall, Dexter placed orders with Sokol for 45 of the type with a view to serving 18 cities shortly. Yevgeny Andrachnikov, chairman of the management group that handles the project, says the demand for air taxi services remains strong throughout Russia.

"This substantiates our estimate of market potential of up to 1 million passengers a year," he adds. "To carry out regular flights on a large scale, we need to have at least 100 aircraft."

Sokol is failing to meet its delivery targets with only six M101Ts scheduled to be handed over this year. The factory was recently incorporated into the newly formed United Aircraft and has been focused on fulfilling defence aircraft orders, such as MiG fighters that it produces traditionally.

"Fulfilling them is taking priority over our order," says Andrachnikov, who does not rule out that Dexter could cancel its contract with Sokol and rely wholly on Pilatus as a supplier of much-needed aircraft. To operate the first batch of PC-12s, the carrier has already provided training for 10 pilots and seven technicians.