Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot is to place 10 Sukhoi Superjet 100s with subsidiary carriers, and reschedule its Airbus A350 deliveries, the airline has revealed in its latest fleet plan.
Aeroflot is taking a total of 54 aircraft from 2013-16 and phasing out 34 over the same interval.
Among the incoming jets are 16 Boeing 777s, 20 Superjets and the first pair of Boeing 787s.
While the carrier had originally intended to take its 22 A350s from 2014-17, at the time of the order, the airline states in its first-half results presentation that shareholders will discuss “rescheduling of the delivery” to 2018-23.
The presentation has not indicated whether the composition of the A350 order will change. Aeroflot is one of the main customers for the -800 version of the aircraft.
Aeroflot has 10 Superjets and the fleet plan shows that eight more will be delivered in 2014 and the other 12 the following year.
But it also states that 10 of the jets “are planned to be transferred to subsidiaries” in 2015.
Aeroflot’s six Ilyushin Il-96-300s are due to exit the fleet by the end of 2014 and the airline group is also phasing out a batch of Boeing 767s.
Over the first six months of the year Aeroflot and its subsidiary Donavia turned in net profits totalling $80 million. Airline subsidiaries Rossiya, Vladivostok Avia, Orenair and SAT posted a combined net loss of $45 million, although this was less than half the previous year’s figure.
Rossiya and Vladivostok Avia, however, each began delivering operating profits over the first half.
Aeroflot, which is still trying to integrate the subsidiaries fully into its group operation, says that reaching break-even with Rossiya requires “complex” fleet and debt restructuring. It is working on amending lease conditions on aircraft including its six Antonov An-148s.
Creation of a far eastern Russian company based on Vladivostok Avia and SAT also depends on fleet restructuring and state subsidies, adds Aeroflot. Long-haul Airbus A330s have been phased out in favour of A319s.
Aeroflot Group says it is also trying to “mitigate” the risk of dependence on a single customer for the operations of Orenair.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
