Flot RT, a passenger transport operator in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic, plans to use two hovercraft to maintain services to remote riverside settlements when weather and waterway conditions would restrict the company’s conventional river vessels.
Flot RT Chief Executive Roman Lizalin and Tatarstan Transport Minister Farid Khanifov presented the plans at a briefing in Tatarstan's Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday, November 10.
Khanifov said the region expected two hovercraft built by local shipyard Paryashchiye Mashiny (PARMA) and that the winter routes were still being worked out.
"They will take over our summer transport services during the winter period," said Khanifov.
Lizalin added that the first hovercraft is expected to arrive shortly. It will carry up to 42 passengers at speeds of up to 30 knots on water.
The craft can operate in outside temperatures from −40°C to 35°C and in winds of up to 12 m/s. It can also run in shallow water, between navigation seasons, and during freeze-up.
Conventional navigation in the republic currently runs from late April to late October. Regional authorities want to extend the season by one month in total by opening earlier and closing later.
Khanifov said the colder spring and autumn periods would require different services from the summer schedule, and that the ministry would explore options with travel agencies.
"Perhaps these will be leisure trips, perhaps some corporate activities,” said Khanifov. “This is what we will work on, so that navigation is extended not just to tick a box, but so that the vessels operate.”
The minister put average fleet occupancy at 56 per cent for the year and said he hoped it would exceed 63 per cent in 2027.
Lizalin first proposed two PARMA-built hovercraft for winter operation between Kazan and Verkhny Uslon in January 2025.
A procurement notice issued in January 2026 sought one PARMA vessel for RUB78 million (US$940,000). The vessel is to be funded from the republic's budget and delivered within 11 months.
