Russian cargo airline Atran, part of the Volga-Dnepr Group, has resumed commercial freight operations after a pause of more than four years. Its first post-pause flight operated from Moscow to Mirny in Yakutia, via Novosibirsk, using Boeing 737-400SF RA-73854, a freighter with capacity for up to 18 tonnes. The restart restores limited domestic cargo capacity for the group, with Atran currently operating one aircraft.
The 1997-built Boeing was removed from storage and underwent C-check maintenance before completing a two-hour check flight on 28 August 2026. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, restored Atran’s operator certificate on 22 September, after it had been suspended in 2025 at the airline’s request.
Atran suspended commercial flying after the disruption caused by the war in Ukraine and ensuing Western sanctions. The return to service places the carrier back in Russia’s charter freight market, with Mirny offering potential demand linked to Yakutia’s diamond-mining industry, including equipment, spare parts and other industrial cargo.
A second Boeing 737-400SF remains in storage and could potentially return to service, while a third aircraft has been in Cologne since 2022. Atran has not disclosed the cargo carried on the inaugural flight, its planned frequency, subsequent contracts or a timetable for reactivating the second aircraft. The first flight therefore does not indicate a return to the airline’s previous operating scale.