Russia’s Kamchatka Airlines to lease three Cessna 208Bs

Kamchatka Airlines (Petropavlovsk Yelizovo) has secured three Cessna (single turboprop) 208B Grand Caravans on lease from GTLK – State Transport Leasing. Deliveries are planned for the current half of 2022.

The state-owned lessor said in a statement that the two parties are in talks over the possibility of adding a further nine Caravans to the contract for delivery in 2023-2027. Given Moscow’s insistence that local operators give priority to Russian-made aircraft, the deal had to secure the approval of the Government Commission on Import Substitution. As such, the Textron Aviation turboprops will be added to the Russian register.

Certified in August last year, Kamchatka Airlines operates a single Cessna 208B Grand Caravan – RA-67450 (msn 208B2402). As previously reported, founder Sergei Bachin plans to use the airline to develop tourism throughout the Kamchatka Peninsula.