For Nesterov Aviation the situation around the coronavirus outbreak did not become a reason to stop operations. Despite the difficulties, all operations planned at the beginning of the year go according to plan.
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Recently, we shared the story of successful delivery of PC-12 NG to a Russian client amid the pandemic. This delivery has become a unique case since before the coronavirus no one had such an experience and a number of limitations and obstacles. The aircraft now has the Russian registry, as well as customs clearance and is currently undergoing the procedure for obtaining a certificate of airworthiness.
From day one, the authorized Pilatus service center in Russia has been carrying out maintenance care, in particular – storage for this aircraft and maintaining airworthiness, and a required amount of fuel, lubricants and navigation databases have been purchased for uninterrupted operation. Very soon the new PC-12 NG will fly to its home base at one of the regional airports and our service center will continue further operations.
Due to the active efforts of Nesterov Aviation team, the interest in Pilatus aircraft is constantly growing and the number of PC-12’s in Russia and the CIS is going up, they are flying more, and the authorized Pilatus service center workload in Dobrograd is increasing. This is a simple equation, as Nesterov Aviation offers a full range of after-sales services at all stages of an aircraft life cycle. Pilatus aircraft fly to Dobrograd from different parts of our vast country and from neighboring states.
Since the opening of the Russian service center in 2018, the volume of after-sales services has increased by 4–5 times, and by the end of the year its estimated to increase by 7 times.
From the beginning of March 2020, the service center performed work on 6 PC-12’s of various modifications, and by the end of this year, more than 10 maintenance operations are planned.
The Russian service center set its new record – three PC-12’s had maintenance works performed on them simultaneously. Since the workload at the service center keeps growing and the team is getting ready for the arrival of Pilatus’ flagships PC-24 and PC-12 NGX, a decision has already been made to expand the area and build an additional hangar.
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It’s important to note that we always provide maximum support to our customers and have already performed maintenance works several times outside the service center upon request of the PC-12 owners. So, last year, a team of engineers from the Russian service center flew to Italy.
“Due to the long-term flight program of PC-12 NG, owned by one of our Russian customers, it was decided not to interrupt the flight cycle and not to return the aircraft to its base, but to carry out scheduled maintenance care by sending the engineers from the Russian service center to Italy. The work was completed in the shortest possible time. After maintenance, the aircraft continued its scheduled route,” said Dmitry Sokolov, deputy general director for Nesterov's after-sales services division.
And this April, upon request by BySky, the Belarusian business aviation operator, our engineers left for the temporary location of the aircraft at Sheremetyevo Airport and carried out all the necessary work there. This allowed us to reduce costs and save time for our clients.
By all means, the quarantine made some minor adjustments to our team’s work routine. This mainly affected the movement of engineers from Moscow to Dobrograd and from Moscow to Sheremetyevo Airport, but this problem was resolved in a short time: one of our partners provided a comfortable minivan specifically for the needs of our engineers, and the efficiency of work remains at a high level.
We take the safety of our employees very seriously, and during the coronavirus outbreak permanent passes were issued for all engineers of the service center, special face masks, gloves and antiseptics were provided. Moreover, all engineers maintain social distance while at the workplace.
Just like Pilatus Aircraft, we are proud of our customer service level, the support of Pilatus owners under any circumstances is our common priority.
Nesterov Aviation is the authorized Pilatus sales and service center in Russia.
