Voyager Announces the Lease Conversion of a Second 747-8F

Voyager Aviation Holdings,  announced this week that it has entered into an agreement with AirBridgeCargo Airlines and Volga-Dnepr Group to convert the operating lease on one (1) of the Company’s 747-8F aircraft into a finance lease. The transaction is the second conversion of a 747-8F operating lease with AirBridgeCargo (part of Volga-Dnepr Group) to a finance lease.

“This second lease conversion, following the first transaction announced on December 14, 2020, is indicative of the continued strength of the cargo market and performance of AirBridgeCargo and Volga-Dnepr,” said Voyager’s President & Chief Executive Officer, Mike Lungariello. “Voyager is pleased to offer innovative financing solutions to our customers, and we will continue to do so in the future when opportunities present themselves.”

Volga-Dnepr Airlines returns AN-124-100 to service following recent crash.

Photo Volga-Dnepr Group

The heavy and odd-shaped cargo specialist freight carrier Volga-Dnepr Airlines has confirmed the restart of flying operations of the Antonov An-124-100 commercial operations following a crash in November grounded the fleet.

The first plane ready after the completion of technical checks and execution of service directives to a full extent was RA-82077 completing a flight from Leipzig to Shanghai on 26th December.  

The airline suspended operations after the incident on the 13th of November 2020 which saw one of the fleet suffer an uncontained engine fan disk failure of series D-18T shortly after take-off. The failure resulted in engine failure and the loss of control systems. The bulk carrier was carrying 84 tons of cargo with full fuel tanks at the time of the incident. Despite suffering engine failure and loss of control elements, the crew still managed to avert a major disaster by making a 180-degree turn, land the aircraft, managing to keep the aircraft on the runway before skidding off the end of the runway.