Volga-Dnepr Airlines has placed the first order for the Aviadvigatel PS-90-powered version of the Ilyushin Il-76TD, the -90VD, with the Tashkent production plant TAPO.
The first Il-76 to be completed in -90VD configuration is being modified from an unfinished Il-76TD and is scheduled to be delivered to the Ulynovosk-based airline next month.
Volga-Dnepr has obtained exclusive intellectual property rights for the Il-76TD-90VD documentation from Ilyushin in exchange for investing in the model's research and development. Compared to the baseline Aviadvigatel D-30KU-powered Il-76, the -90VD is equipped with the new generation PS-90A-76 and a glass cockpit featuring six 15 x 20cm (6 x 8in) liquid crystal displays from NPK Irkut's Russian Avionics.
Earlier this year Volga-Dnepr awarded a contract for the re-engining of four in-service Il-76TDs from the VASO plant in Voronezh. It recently ordered a second batch of four PS-90A-76s, having purchased an initial batch last year (Flight International, 6-12 August 2002). The re-engined Il-76 offers 17% better fuel efficiency and 1,000km (540nm) additional range and will meet future proposed noise legislation.
The retrofit is due for certification next year, with first deliveries to Volga-Dnepr due in 2005, and the cost per airframe is about $15 million. VASO has already won a Russian air force commitment to retrofit the PS-90 on 14 Il-76MDs, with a firm contract for three aircraft.
Volga-Dnepr chairman Alexei Isaikin forecasts a market for around 40 upgrades. Ilyushin says 500 Il-76s remain in service, and that out of 110 Il-76M/MDs exported, "several dozen" could be retrofitted with PS-90s.
Source: Flight International