Sky Gates Airlines

Cargo hubs & stations

Sky Gates publishes neither a station network nor a cargo schedule. Stations have therefore deliberately not been recorded; only the operating base Zhukovsky is evidenced.

• ZIAZhukovsky International AirportPrimary cargo hub

Fleet & capacity

Fleet data as of 28 March 2025 per FlightGlobal, corroborated by the carrier's undated fleet statement. No more recent dated inventory can be evidenced.

Special cargo

Products

Availability may vary by station, route and aircraft type.

Sky Gates Airlines is a Russian all-cargo carrier headquartered in Moscow and operating from Zhukovsky Airport (ZIA). The operator is a limited liability company under Russian law; according to its own statement it holds its own air operator certificate and its own licences for the carriage of goods. Since August 2023 it has belonged to the Russian airline Red Wings, which revived the previously dormant carrier as the cargo arm of its group. The business model is pure freighter operation with the carrier's own aircraft: full charter, recurring charter programmes and ACMI. Belly cargo plays no role and no belly capacity of the parent company is marketed. According to the carrier the network focus lies on traffic between China and Russia through its partner airport Zhukovsky; the first commercial flight after the restart ran from Turkmenbashi to Moscow Zhukovsky on 10 December 2023. As of 28 March 2025 the fleet consisted of two refurbished Ilyushin Il-96-400T and one Ilyushin Il-76TD. The Il-96-400T is the stretched freighter version of the Il-96 and carries a payload of up to 92 tonnes. Both freighters, RA-96103 and RA-96101, come from the fleet of lessor Ilyushin Finance and were returned to airworthy condition from long-term storage before entering service. The carrier announces further fleet expansion with Russian-built aircraft. Two points matter for forwarders. First, Sky Gates publishes neither shipment tracking nor a cargo schedule; enquiries go through its commercial department. Second, the IATA designator, the ICAO designator and the AWB prefix cannot be evidenced from primary sources: the figures in circulation come solely from trade directories and contradict one another on the prefix. These fields are therefore left empty. For Russia-related shipments, sanctions and export control screening must be completed in any case.

Sources

• Sky Gates – O kompanii (offizielle Website) · Identity, ownership, products, contact
• FlightGlobal – Russia's Sky Gates introduces a second Il-96-400T freighter · Fleet, as of 28 March 2025
• FlightGlobal – Red Wings resurrects Sky Gates and Il-96-400T freighter to establish cargo business · Red Wings acquisition, history, first flight
• IATA Clearing House Member List, Stand 06.08.2026 · Negative evidence on AWB prefix and clearing house membership