Polet Airlines is entering the international regular cargo transportation market.

To achieve this goal Polet Airlines has leased three IL-96-400Т aircraft from Ilyushin Finance Co. to bring them into commercial operation by autumn 2009. Furthermore, the aircraft fleet will be extended by acquisition of three additional IL-96-400 aircraft in 2010-2011.

The wide body IL-96-400T is the first cargo aircraft of this type, manufactured in Russia. Its launch into operation means a lot to the industry. The declared characteristics such as fuel efficiency, payload factor, cargo compartment volume make it an attractive product in most market segments. In particular, fuel consumption by IL-96-400T is some 30% lower than by Boeing-747-400F. Cargo hold volume is over 770 cbm.

Bringing the first three aircraft into commercial operation from 2009, with present market activity, the company is expecting to reach positive results by 2011.

It is planned to operate flights serving the key hubs at different world regions including Europe.

A special emphasis is placed on Munich Airport, which was selected as the main operational base in Europe.

At the initial stage the sales and marketing are going to be done in cooperation with partners and GSAs, though direct sales may be considered as a long-term plan.

Possibilities of cooperation with leading forwarders, agents and cargo consolidators with respect to all global markets are under discussion. Furthermore, customer search is being carried out among direct consignors and state agencies.

One of the goals is to develop the Russian and CIS market. The principal peculiarity of this market is its asymmetry: the main flow of cargo originates in Moscow (smaller flow originates in St. Petersburg) and flows then to Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and other big cities hard achievable by other means of transport: Yakutsk, Norilsk, Mirny, Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski, Tashkent and Baku. The services to these destinations are either limited or do not exist, which opens opportunities to build main and feeder routes.