EAST COAST FLYING SERVICE: United States (1965-1966)

ECFS is set up at Jacksonville, Florida, during the late spring of 1965 to provide scheduled air taxi services to local intrastate destinations. Employing a Beech 18, the carrier inaugurates daily frequencies on June 25, but these cannot be maintained a year.

EAST HAMPTON AIRE: United States (1978-1991). Organized at East Hampton Airport at Wainscott, New York, in the spring of 1978, Frank Lavigna’s small intrastate is equipped with a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain and a PA-31-310 Navajo. These are employed to inaugurate daily roundtrip scheduled passenger services in July linking his base with Montauk Point and New York City (LGA).

Over the next eight years, service is initiated to Boston and the Connecticut town of New London. The fleet grows to include two Navajos and a Beech 99. The company adds a second Beech 99 in 1986 and carries a total of 16,000 passengers in 1987.

In early 1988, the company is briefly shut down by the FAA for maintenance violations of the FAR code. These are cleared up by midyear, allowing the privately owned carrier, which has now transferred to West-over Airport, in Springfield, Massachusetts, to resume flying scheduled services down to New York (LGA) via Hartford, Connecticut, with a single Beech 99. Additional Beech 99s and a Beech 1900 are acquired later in the year.

In mid-November, two of the Beech 99s and the Beech 1900 are wet-leased to Mall Airways. Traffic and financial figures are held in confidence.

In 1989, the carrier begins flying from Wilmington, Delaware, to Parkersburg, West Virginia. Ten peak-hour landing slots at New York (LGA) are sold in July to Business Express for an undisclosed sum. In September, when Mall Airways is acquired by Business Express, EHA’s leased aircraft are returned.

In late spring 1990, an arrangement is made with Continental Airlines to purchase the route previously flown by Britt Airways from Springfield, Illinois, to Chicago (Meigs Field). EHA begins “Continental Express” service over that route on June 1. Late in the year, the regional is put up for sale.

The airline is again grounded by the FAA in January 1991, as it is charged with operating unsafe aircraft and inappropriate maintenance records. The action leads to cancellation of East Hampton’s “Continental Express” agreement. In July, the company files for Chapter XI bankruptcy. It cannot reorganize and does not emerge.

EAST HAMPTON AIRLINES: East Hampton Airport, Wainscott, New York 11975, United States; Phone (516) 537-3737; Fax (516) 537-3755; Year Founded 1993. Set up as the FBO at East Hampton Airport, Wainscott, New York, in 1993, East Hampton Airlines also operates a regional charter division under the direction of Audra Helstowski. Operations commence and continue with one each Beech Super King Air 200, a Beech 36 Bonanza, and a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain.

Flights continue during the remainder of the decade, during which years a second Chieftain enters service.

EAST LINE AIRLINES: No. 5, Prospect 5/K12, Moscow Zone, 142045, Russia; Phone 7 (095) 427 2852; Fax 7 (095) 427 8311; Http://www. eastline. ru; Code P7; Year Founded 1997. The aviation component of East Line Group, a large Moscow corporation that also operates Domodedovo Airport, East Line Aviation, is renamed in 1997. Amiran Kurtanidze remains director general and his concern continues to offer international passenger and cargo charter flights, plus domestic and regional scheduled services Meanwhile, East Line Group continues to service the majority of imported cargo coming into Moscow by air from China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

Over the remainder of the decade, scheduled all-cargo services are flown to Belgium, China, Greece, India, Italy, Korea, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. Scheduled passenger frequencies from Domodedovo Airport are operated to Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Shenyang, Ust-Ilimsk, and Volgograd.

During these years, all of the Il-86s are withdrawn and the fleet is revamped to include 4 Antonov An-12s, 2 An-74s, 1 Il-62M, 8 Il-76Ms, 17 Il-76T/TDs, 5 Tupolev Tu-154Bs, 2 Tu-154Ms, and 1 Yakovlev Yak-42 that is employed to offer scheduled return flights to Germany.

During 1998 , East Line gives consideration to the acquisition of several McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30Fs for its freight network and one or more Airbus Industrie A310-300s for its passenger services. High rental fees and heavy import taxes make the idea unappealing and the possibility dims as a result of the Russian currency crisis that begins in August.

By the beginning of 1999, East Line Airlines is the largest Russian cargo carrier, being responsible for nearly 50% of Russian freight flights made into China. Overall, over 200 routes are operated in Russia, the CIS, the Far East, China, and Western Europe. Sixty more will be added during the year.

During the spring, the carrier enters negotiation with Ilyushin regarding possible joint funding for the installation of Perm Motors PS-90A76 engines on its fleet of Il-76T/TDs. These would replace the old fuel-hungry Soloviev D-30KPs employed. East Line also begins negotiations for the acquisition of a stretched civil derivative of the Il-76MF military transport. Known as the Il-76TF, the aircraft would offer 15 tons more cargo space, but offer an hourly fuel burn 2.5 tons less than that of an Il-76T. Indeed, Ilyushin has nearly completed the construction of three stretched Il-76TFs, but requires additional money to bring this project to a point of commercial viability.

East Line also expresses interest in the development of a special cargo version of the Il-96-300 passenger plane. If built, this upgraded freighter, also powered with Perm PS-90A76 engines, would be capable of flying upwards of 70 tons of cargo. The company’s interest in the project wanes after cost estimates are run for the project. Safety concerns over fuselage strength following the insertion of a cargo door are also considerations. Some possibility of acquiring the Il-96-300 as a replacement for Il-62M long-haul passenger aircraft continues.

Regularly scheduled An-74 freighter flights to Germany commence on April 16. Director General Amiran Kurtanidze informs a news conference in early July that plans are being made to open overseas offices in and eventually begin flights to India, Italy, and the U. S.

During early September, two special cargo flights are made from Luxembourg to Beijing transporting 30 tons of special lighting equipment designed for the 50th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

On September 30, the UN charters an Il-76, which transports a 16-ton generator from Milhaus, France, to Amman, Jordan. From there it will be shipped to Baghdad to provide running water for the Iraqi capital. This is the first major outsized cargo ever handled by the airline.

On October 4, telecommunications equipment is shipped from Stockholm to Khabarovsk. Eight days later, the carrier delivers a 12-ton satellite dish from Moscow to Baku.

It is reported in November that, through the first nine months of the year, East Line has transported 37,000 passengers, as well as freight.

Beginning on December 20, the FSVT, Russia’s aviation authority, undertakes a major crackdown on cargo overloading. The move follows revelations by East Line concerning overloading problems in China.

Freight traffic during the year climbs 30% to 280.6 million FTKs. In a combined total of nearly two thousand flights, a total of 80,000 tons of cargo are flown on chartered aircraft and another 60,000 aboard the carrier’s own aircraft.

A total of 260 routes are operated at the beginning of 2000. The 42-unit all-Russian fleet includes 21 Il-76T/TD and a mix of An-12 and An-74 dedicated freighters, Mi-8 helicopters, and Il-86, Il-62M, Tu-154, Yak-42D, and Yak-40 passenger planes.

On February 19, in an effort to hedge its bets again rising fuel prices, the carrier agrees on an exclusive arrangement with the Tyumen Oil Company. The same day, East Line introduces the first Russian Internet on-line ticket booking.

The company considers its cargo and passenger fleet plans and pointedly rejects, on February 25, the possibility of upgrading its complement with Boeing or Airbus equipment. Director General Kurtanidze is particularly pleased with his decision having observed the heavy losses sustained by Transaero Airlines, which had been forced to return its DC-10s to their lessors at the end of 1998. For Western charter passenger flights, the company will continue, at least for the present, to employ non-Stage 3 noise compliant Il-62Ms and Tu-154s, gradually replacing them after April 2001 with hush-kitted Yak-42Ds. The Yaks will continue to fly scheduled services in Europe as the company, without hush-kitted Il-62Ms, is now forced to abandon a plan to fly from Moscow to New York (JFK).

An agreement concerning the construction and acquisition of the enhanced Il-76TF is concluded between East Line, Ilyushin, the leasing company Uzavializing, and TAPO factory, which will manufacture the aircraft. The first flight of an Il-76TF is expected before the end of 2001.

Remarking upon the previous year’s operations, company officials reveal on February 29 that East Line had transported 25% of all Russian air freight.

With the beginning of the summer schedule at the end of March, new Yak-42D scheduled passenger routes are opened to Stuttgart and Nuremberg in Germany and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Additionally, Yak-42D frequencies are tripled on the current service to Cologne.

Weekly Il-76 freighter service is inaugurated on April 20 from Moscow to Stuttgart. At the end of April, Il-76 cargo service is inaugurated from Moscow to Tyantsin, Shitsyachzhuan, and Khokhkot. With the company already flying to Shenyan from Moscow, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, and Irkutsk, the new routes give East Line a total of seven Chinese routes. These complement cargo service to points in Russia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

The carrier signs a joint agreement with Uzbekistan Airways and the Chkalov Aircraft Company (TAPOiCH) on May 17 for the joint lease of two new Ilyushin Il-76TFs, the first of which will be delivered in the spring of 2001. East Line will be the first operator of this modernized version of the Ilyushin freighter.

In cooperation with Uzbekistan Airways, joint services are launched from Domodedovo Airport on May 25. On May 31, the company leases the entire Il-76 fleet of Domodedovo Airlines.

Beginning on June 3 and continuing through September 23, twice-monthly Tu-154M return charters are operated from Moscow to Naples via Dubrovnik, Croatia. East Line Chairman Dmitry Kamenshchik informs a news conference at Moscow on June 21 that he expects that the paperwork will be completed by the end of the year for the establishment of a joint-venture airline in China. Although the final choice of a partner has not yet been made, it will most likely be Air China International Corporation.

By the start of July, East Line Airlines is operating 250 cargo flights from Russia to China monthly.

Veteran Il-76 commander Capt. Alexander A. Tsykov is named a “Distinguished Pilot of the Russian Federation” on the Air Fleet Day honors list signed by President Vladimir Putin on August 28.

A new weekly Il-76TD return cargo run is initiated on from Khabarovsk to Harbin, China, on September 1.

Masked domestic security officers raid the company’s Domodedovo Airport offices on the morning of September 19, taking away documents and computers and sealing its cargo warehouse. The federal police also visit the other companies making up the East Line Group. The searches, which are said to be necessary to determine if contraband has been brought in from China, bring the freight portion of the airline’s freight business to a standstill, but does not affect its passenger flights. Director General Kurtanidze quicky informs the press that his airline has never carried contraband and that this entire episode is a mistake that will, hopefully, soon be cleared up.

On September 26, Director General Kurtanidze appeals to various Russian aeronautical trade organizations for support in defending its interests and reputation in light of the raids. The carrier’s cargo customers, unable to collect their goods from East Line warehouses or ship on the company’s Il-76Ts, are now turning to Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA) and several Chinese carriers for transport of their freight. On September 29, the security agency formally accuses East Line of smuggling contraband consumer goods from China, noting that, in May, a leased Il-76 had been caught at Irkutsk with 22 tons more cargo than had been reported on customs documents. Director General Kurtanidze notes that the incident, which occurred after one of its freighters had made an emergency landing in the Siberian city, was acknowledged at the time, but that civil aviation officials had closed the case finding no wrongdoing. In rebuttal, the security agency reports that it had decided to file charges after the raid when it was learned that two of the airline’s Ilyushins had been abandoned en route from China at airports in Siberia and central Russia. Inspections of the derelict aircraft have allegedly uncovered a total of 29 tons of illegal cargo.

The most flagrant case is reported to have occurred late on September 19, the same day as the security officers’ visit to East Line’s Moscow facility. An Il-76T en route from Shangyang to Moscow is diverted to Nizhni Novgorod by ATC at Domodedovo Airport. Upon landing, customs agents seize the aircraft, determined to weigh its cargo. They allow its crew to lock it up and take the keys with them to a local hotel for the night.

The next day, the crew has disappeared and the aircraft keys are gone with them. The delay, purposeful or not, allows East Line to fax the security agency, reporting that their Chinese customer had overloaded the aircraft and indicating that the customs declaration, when compared with the cargo weight, will be found to be in error. The crew returns to Nizhni Novgorod without the keys on September 25; an all-day search turns them up on the morning of September 26. While security agents question the captain, the plane is weighed and found to have 47 tons of cargo rather than the declared 36 tons. Meanwhile, the security agency learns that the declared customer for the shipment is fictitious. The cargo is off-loaded and held and the plane and crew are allowed to return to Moscow on September 27; the government deepens its investigation. The entire “mistake,” as Director General Kurtanidze characterizes the matter, is now costing the airline significant lost revenue. On October 5, it is reported that only 60 of 112 scheduled flights to China in September were completed, while planned flights to Turkey during the same month were down from 30 to 15 and to Germany from 12 to 6. Overall tonnage carried during September plunges from 75,000 (the figure for

The same period a year earlier) to only 40,000. When the case is heard in a court at Lefortovo, the security agency’s action is upheld.

Extremely bad weather forces delays in takeoffs from Moscow on November 3 for destinations in Germany and Kazakhstan.

On November 14, the Moscow City Court quashes the earlier judgement of a Lefortovo Court, which had declared the security agency’s raids on East Line offices in September legal. The Moscow court agrees to rehear the case and render an option within two or three months. Meanwhile, East Line is allowed to resume its cargo activities.

Renovated at a cost of $90 million over two years, the new East Line Group terminal at Domodedovo Airport is opened in December 8 ceremonies. No foreign airlines have yet agreed to move to the facility.

Regular operations resume on December 23. Beginning on December 25 and continuing through January 31, a Tu-154M operates return Saturday charters from Moscow to Salzburg.

East Line transports 140,107 passengers during the 12 months, as compared to 48,162 for the same period a year earlier. It has also increased the amount of FTKs flown on behalf of the UN, a major customer, by over 30% since January. Over 30 Il-76 humanitarian missions have been operated to Sierra Leone, North Korea, Indonesia, Yugoslavia, and in support of the East Timor effort, to Australia.

Despite the continuing security probe, which has so far cost the airline an estimated $10 million, East Line remains the nation’s largest dedicated all-cargo carrier. As the year ends, plans are in place to enhance cargo operations linking Europe (particularly Luxembourg and Finland) with Asia (especially Northern China and Korea). Flights to Asia will increasingly carry communications equipment while those to Europe will convey textile products. Scheduled passenger services will be started to five additional destinations in Europe, two in Kazakhstan, and one in Kirgiztan. Regular Il-86 roundtrips between Moscow and Dubai are also anticipated.

The Moscow government reports in February 2001 that the total number of Russian air carriers has fallen from 328 in January 2000 to a current 294. It also reveals that East Line Airlines, Atlant Soyuz Airlines, Volga-Dnepr Airlines, and Aeroflot Russian International Airlines (ARIA) have, between them, carried half of all Russian air freight traffic in 2000. The East Line share is 20%.