OREANDA-NEWS. July 17, 2012. Prime Minister Vlad Filat today attended the inauguration of the first aircraft Boeing 747 CARGO, that will operate flights under the Moldovan banner, the government's communication and press relations department has reported.

The airship belongs to the "Get-Star" company, and has been recently bought from Japan. The company has earlier worked only with IL-76 aircrafts.

Vlad Filat visited the aircraft and discussed the new acquisition with the pilots and the leadership of the company. The prime minister told journalists that the today's event is another result achieved due to the signing of the agreement on common aviation area with the EU.

"Moldova is improving its services of passenger's transportation by air. We were together when new flights to Venice, Rome, Milan were launched by a new aircraft Boeing 737, with low plane tickets, and improved quality of the provided services. Today, we see how the signing of this accord influenced the cargo transportation as well," Vlad Filat said.

The prime minister specified that the signing of the agreement offered new possibilities for the development of Moldovan companies.

"A Moldovan company, that had possibility to operate freely, invested and brought this aircraft Boeing 747 CARGO under Moldova's banner. This is a high-tech aircraft with a capacity of 105 tons," Vlad Filat said.

The prime minister noted that, according to the agreement signed with the EU, all the Soviet-type airships are to be replaced by aircrafts accredited by the European Union till 2017.

Vlad Filat said the Moldovan pilots are professionals and are appreciated worldwide. The pilots showed that they can pilot any type of aircraft, and via enriching the Moldovan air fleet, we also intend to train other young people to work in this sector.

For his part, the head of the "Get-Star" company, Vladimir Seleznev, said the aircraft will operate the first flight under the Moldovan banner to Portugal just today.

"This is the first project carried out due to the signing of the agreement on joining the common aviation area with the EU. This is the first plane of this type for cargo transportation, purchased by a Moldovan company. This project gives new possibilities to Moldovan producers, especially those of the agricultural area, as their goods may be transported in a fresh state to any region of the world in a very short time," Vladimir Seleznev said.

The head of the above company stressed that, by late 2012, he is set to buy another aircraft, so that the company will have five airships for cargo transportation.

Vladimir Seleznev also said that the purchasing of this aircraft also led to improving the professional skills of the company's employees, as experts from abroad trained more specialists on how to serve this type of planes.