Russian outlook for Grand Caravan

Four such aircraft are currently operated in the country (Leonid Faerbeg / transport-photo.com)

Cessna Aircraft’s single-engine 208B Grand Caravan EX turboprop is once again present in the MAKS 2017 static park. Jet Transfer, the OEM’s official dealer in Russia, is showcasing a variant configured for regional and local operations.

A Jet Transfer spokesperson says the company is registering a growing interest in the type across Russia: “Not only potential operators are interested but also regional administrations, which look to develop air transport services within their territories. We are now working with almost all the Russian regions: in Siberia, in the south, and in the central areas of the country.”

The Grand Caravan “is precisely the type that could help Russia’s emerging regional airlines take off,” the spokesperson notes, adding that the interest in the aircraft is similarly high elsewhere across the CIS, “for the very same reasons.”

Jet Transfer does not expect any contracts to be signed at this year’s MAKS, but work with potential clients continues. Three Russian operators are in the final phase of negotiations to buy Grand Caravans. No deliveries have been scheduled for this year so far. Earlier, the company reported that it was working to have the certificate for the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX modification with 14 passenger seats validated locally.

Jet Transfer confirms that all the Russian operators it has approached are interested in this particular modification, and that “Cessna Aircraft is working with the Russian aviation authorities to meet the requirements of every [potential] customer.”

By Tatyana Volodina