Charter & Fractional
UTAir Losses from Helicopter Operations Continue
Company Expanding Fleet, Flight Hours

UTAir’s losses from helicopter operations widened to $39 million in the first half of this year, the Russian air services company reported last week. The losses were exacerbated as a result of the company's purchase earlier this year of controlling interest in the Surgut Airport in Western Siberia, where it has major base operations, and were incurred despite the fact that helicopter flight times increased by 10 percent, to 60,000 hours, compared to the year-earlier period.