By Rob Stapleton
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Direct flights from Anchorage to Yuzno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, may be possible this spring if investors approve a business plan.

Revisiting a concept that they say is possible, promising and a feasible venture, former Russia Jet Direct principals are vying for funding to get Saber Air flying to Yuzno-Sakhalinsk by late March or early April.

"We have a team in place and are ready to go," said Sabrina Ford, president of Saber Air.

Saber Air is proposing to fly Boeing 757-200 long-range jets as a secondary airline offering service from Houston to Anchorage and on to Yuzno-Sakhalinsk. The Russian destination, on Sakhalin Island, is the location of booming oil and gas development, in which several U.S. companies have a stake.

"I left a teaching position in Spain to return to Alaska to help get this launched," said Phil Bray, chief operations officer for Saber Air. "That shows you my commitment to serve Alaska and Russia with a viable airline."

Bray, a former chief pilot and director of international operations for Reeve Aleutian Airways, flew jets into Yuzno-Sakhalinsk for the Alaska-based airline in the early and late 1990s.

Bray calls Saber a "virtual airline" that is recreating the Russia Direct Jet business model, but this time with nonairline-related investors.

"The numbers were good, the model worked; we were just proving it out when the main investor made a business decision to go a different direction," Bray said.

According to Both Bray and Ford, Russia Jet Direct's investors, the Rubloff Group of Rockford, Ill., decided to pull the plug on the Houston-Anchorage-Yuzno flights and use the aircraft for a more lucrative, but short-term lift for the Department of Defense for flights to Iraq.

"The decision was to make money in the short term, over making money and establishing service over the long run," Bray said.

"I would have done both by getting a second jet and continuing the concept," Ford said.

Bray revealed that the Russia Jet Direct's first five flights were not profitable, but that the bookings for the sixth flight, which was canceled, would have made it profitable.

Russia Jet Direct ceased operations in September 2005 after a start-up in August.

Ford has moved to Alaska from Seattle to devote her attention to taking up where Russia Jet Direct left off.

"The heart of the operation will be here in Alaska," Ford said.

Waiting for Santa to slide down the chimney with papers, Bray indicated that a deal was close to closing for the funding shortly before the Christmas holiday.

"I know that I am in the right place," Ford said. "We received good support from the oil companies, and we are going to come back swinging."

Rob Stapleton can be reached at rob.stapleton@alaskajournal.com.