AeroGeo and SKOL to operate Rosneft’s Twin Otters

RN-Aircraft Twin Otters are capable of transporting 19 passengers RN-Aircraft Twin Otters are capable of transporting 19 passengers (Photo by AeroGeo)

Russian oil company Rosneft will split its order for DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft between two local operators. Five out of 10 aircraft purchased by RN-Aircraft, Rosneft’s aviation division, will be operated by SKOL, a private operator registered in Surgut. It has an affiliate office in Krasnoyarsk, where the aircraft are based. The remaining five aircraft will be operated by Krasnoyarsk-based AeroGeo, which was responsible for the acceptance and ferrying of the aircraft.

In mid-October AeroGeo delivered to Krasnoyarsk the eighth of the ten aircraft ordered by Rosneft in August 2015.

At the moment Rosneft is transferring three DHC-6s to SKOL. Later on, when the final two aircraft of the batch reach Russia, they will also be added to SKOL’s fleet. All of these aircraft will be based on Cheremshanka airport, 2 km from Krasnoyarsk’s main airport Yemelyanovo.

SKOL was one of the candidates to perform the aircraft acceptance procedures, however AeroGeo’s offer was more competitive and won RN-Aircraft’s tender.

“We’ve got the flight crews and the technicians in place to start operating the aircraft. At the moment we are initiating procedures for registering the new type with our Air Operator Certificate. So we are gearing up to start operations and count on the launch before the end of the year,” the SKOL representative told Russian Aviation Insider.

According to Federal Air Transport Agency, SKOL currently operates Airbus Helicopters AS350 B3, Mi-171, Mi-8Т/АМТ, Mi-26Т helicopters and Cessna 208B Grand Caravan and YaK-40 airplanes.

The remaining five DHC-6 aircraft will be operated by AeroGeo from its base in Krasnoyarsk-Severny airport. Just one DHC-6 is currently registered in the operator’s AOC. “Rosneft hasn’t yet come up with the idea how to use this aircraft, and AeroGeo is not authorized to use it in third party interests without coordinating it with the owner. So the aircraft is just basically sitting there,” an industry source told Russian Aviation Insider. No comment was available from the operator.

SKOL is to become the fourth operator of Twin Otters, after AeroGeo (May 2016), Aurora (2014) and ChukotAvia (end of 2012).

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