LONDON. July 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The Volga-Dnieper Airlines and Perm engine plant on Wednesday signed an agreement on implementation of the program envisaging installation of new engines in IL-76 Candid planes.
The agreement was signed at the Farnborough 2002 air show in Great Britain.
"The program envisages installation of new PS-90A engines designed by the Aviadvigatel JS in the IL-76 planes," Volga- Dnieper President Alexei Isaikin told Interfax-Military News Agency.
He said that the program had passed all stages of finalization and had been approved by all participants in the project. The Aviastar-SP aircraft building enterprise located in Ulyanovsk is chosen to handle the program as a basic plant.
The IL-76 planes will be able to stay in commercial operations for at least 15 years thanks to replacement of their engines, Isaikin said.
Russian and foreign airlines currently operate about 200 Candid planes. The aircraft is distinguished for having a ramp, which enables it to transport various types of cargo, including heavy machinery and hardware weighting up to 50t.
IL-76 planes play a key role in humanitarian programs all over the world, including provision of aid to areas of natural disaster and delivery of UN humanitarian cargo to third world countries, Isaikin said. They account for delivery of 90 percent of all urgent cargoes, as most of them cannot be transported by Western types of planes.