Volga contract wins by AK Bars Aero

AK Bars Aero has won a three year contract to operate subsidized intra-regional flights within the Volga Federal District. The announcement comes after the airline was recently audited by the Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia). The carrier will operate the following routes out of Kazan Int'l: Kirov, Orenburg, Penza, Samara Kurumoch, Saransk and Saratov Tsentralny. Also included are Nizhnekamsk to Nizhniy Novgorod flights though Kazan - Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan - Ufa are excluded from the contract. Meanwhile, Ak Bars has also announced it will absorb the assets of Tatarstan Air (U9, Kazan Int'l) which is set to lose its Air Operators Certificate on December 31. Tatarstan Air's fleet consists of six A319-100s and two Tu-154Ms. According to an exclusive statement to ch-aviation by Tatarstan Air, the Tu-154M aircraft have already been transferred to Ak Bars Aero while its Cessna 208B Grand Caravans used on the regional flights mentioned above will be transferred to Ak Bars from December 31. The novation of the A319-100 lease agreements is not expected until January with two A319-100s already scheduled to move to Ak Bars Aero and negotiations taking place for another two.