News / Volga-Dnepr and Antonov pull the plug on Ruslan, opening up AN-124 market

© Abhishek Singh

The decade-long near-monopoly of the Ruslan International AN-124 joint venture will officially end on 31 December.

Partners Volga-Dnepr Group and Antonov Airlines, hamstrung by the poor relationship between their respective countries of Russian and Ukraine, are to call it a day, although technical collaboration must continue.

Manufacturer Antonov, as the designer of the aircraft and type certificate holder, insisted that the aircraft must remain under its technical supervision.

It said in a statement earlier this year: “In case of withdrawal of the AN-124−100 Ruslan civil aircraft ...