Volga-Dnepr Group opens maintenance and repair hangar at Leipzig/Halle

VOLGA-Dnepr Group's maintenance and repair unit in Germany, Volga-Dnepr Techni (VDT), has taken out a lease and has started operations in a newly-built hangar at Leipzig/Halle Airport.

The hangar has an overall area of 8,500 square metres and is designed to simultaneously accommodate one AN-124-100, one IL-76, and one B747 or four single-aisle B737 or A320 aircraft. Maintenance time using the hangar can be significantly reduced, the company said, adding that this has been proven by the first A-checks for AN-124-100 and Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft operated by Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridgeCargo Airlines.

"Leipzig/Halle has been an important location for Volga-Dnepr Technics since 2010. The addition of this new hangar facility at such an important and growing freight hub - the second largest cargo hub in Germany in terms of freight turnover - provides a long-term competitive advantage for the company," says Ildar Iliyasov, managing director of VDT.

VDT plans to provide services to the intra-group fleets of Volga-Dnepr, AirBridgeCargo and Atran, and gradually allocate slots to external customers. Among the first external customers could be both airlines based at the airport and Russian-based air carriers exposed to constraints of free slot absence.