OREANDA-NEWS. May 23, 2012. OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (hereinafter – MMC Norilsk Nickel or the Company) announces that a project aimed at the development of regional and interregional transportation by Taimyr Airlines (trade mark - NordStar Airlines) is in progress. A year ago, on May 20, 2011 NordStar Airlines started to operate ATR 42-500 aircrafts and launched a number of new regular flights from Krasnoyarsk. Flights geography was diversified in accordance with agreement signed in March of 2010 by MMC Norilsk Nickel and the Government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory on cooperation in the area of air transportation development.

Four brand new turbo-prop ATR 42-500 aircrafts became a part of NordStar Airlines air fleet delivered from ATR Consortium Plant (located in Toulouse) in spring of 2011. NordStar Airlines purchased one more ATR 42 aircraft in December of 2011. Therefore, 5 aircrafts of this type are currently operated at NordStar’s routes. All the aircrafts are modified in a special way to fit for severe climatic conditions of Siberia and the Extreme North (ETOPS 120 minutes, operation at ambient temperatures down to -45°C, protective coating of the lower fuselage).

New aircrafts made it possible to ensure highly reliable passenger transportation with low operating costs. Over a year of operations, ATR 42-500 aircrafts belonging to NordStar carried out 4,713 flights with transportation of more than 130,000 people and 500 t of cargos and mail. Total flying hours amounted to 9,327; passenger turnover exceeded 137 mln. of passenger-kilometers.

Operation of a new-type aircraft opened new routes for the citizens of the Krasnoyarsk Territory with a high level of flight safety and comfort. Currently, NordStar’s short-haul flights are carried out from Krasnoyarsk to the local towns (Baykit, Vanavara, Igarka, Podkamennaya Tunguska, Severo Yenisseysk, Tura, Turukhansk), as well as to Barnaul, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Norilsk, Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Tomsk, Ulan-Ude and Chita.

Norilsk Nickel’s air project is aimed at improving transportation between Krasnoyarsk and remote regions of the Territory as well as with other cities of the Siberian region, therefore, contributing to meeting social targets on the territory of the Group’s operation.

ABOUT MMC NORILSK NICKEL:

MMC Norilsk Nickel, a company incorporated under the laws of the Russian Federation, is the largest diversified mining and metals company in Russia, the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium and one of the world's largest producers of platinum, rhodium, copper and cobalt. In addition to this, MMC Norilsk Nickel produces a large number of other by-products, including gold, silver, tellurium, selenium, iridium and ruthenium.

The key operations of the Company’s group in Russia are at the Polar and Kola Peninsulas. MMC Norilsk Nickel’s international assets include operations in Finland, Australia, Botswana and South Africa.

MMC Norilsk Nickel’s shares are traded at MICEX and RTS. ADRs on the Company’s shares are traded at over the counter market in the US and at the London and Berlin stock exchanges.