News / Ruslan and the AN-124 could be forced out of business as Russia and Ukraine squabble

© Maksym Dragunov

The future of the AN-124 aircraft is in serious doubt after Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov said it would not work with Russian companies after January 1 2017, and could halt international AN-124 operations.

Ukraine announced on Wednesday that it was leaving the trilateral Ukraine-Russia-NATO Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS), which would also see the end of Ruslan, the joint marketing agreement between Antonov Airlines and Volga-Dnepr.

CargoForwarder reported that Antonov had also announced a flight ban on all Russia-registered AN-124 operations outside of Russia – which could ...