Daghestan Airlines (Makhachkala) will be succeeded by another state-backed carrier with plans to enlist RusLine (7R, Moscow Vnukovo) as a strategic partner. Magomedgadzhi Radjabov, the deputy head of the region's Transport and Roads Agency, told the RIA news agency that the collapse of the carrier, which prior to 2011 was known as South East Airlines (Makhachkala), had left Daghestan with no dedicated scheduled operator.
"After Daghestan Airlines' licence was revoked in 2013, we faced an urgent need to create a new national company. We have started negotiations with Rusline as they operate charter flights into the Daghestani market," he said.
The new carrier will initially operate using Rusline's Air Operator's Certificate with a fleet of eight aircraft of which two Tu-154s and one Tu-134 will be sourced by the Daghestani government. In all likelihood, the machinery will be ex-Daghestan Airlines vintage. The other 5 jets will come from Rusline which itself operates five CRJ100s, nineteen CRJ200s, and two E120s.
Daghestan is a federal subject of Russia, and is located in the North Caucasus region along the western shore of the Caspian Sea.
