- The current plane we is not preferred by modern passengers, which is the most important criterion, says Oleg Usmanov, head of Nordavia in an interview on Pomorie TV, re-posted at the portal of the air company.
BarentsObserver reported last week that President Dmitri Medvedev has ordered all Russia’s An-24 aircrafts to be grounded before the end of the year. The decision was made after several crashes with the old propeller. The An-24 has operated the route Arkhangelsk-Murmansk-Tromsø over the last 20 years. The route is the only cross-border flight between northern Russia and northern Norway.
Nordavia also uses the An-24 on its route from Arkhangelsk via Murmansk to Helsinki.
The new aircraft will according to Usmanov enter service in December this year. Nordavia does not say how many ATR-42 they are purchasing, neither does the company say what model of the aircraft they will get.
It is not either announced whether Nordavia are buying brand new aircrafts or second-hand models.
ATR-42 is built in France and Italy and has from 40 to 52 seats. The first plane of the model was introduced in 1985.
