Air Astana aims to move forward with fleet renewal plans at next month’s Farnborough air show as it begins lease negotiations for Embraer’s new E-Jet E2 family. It also hopes to finalise plans to lease Airbus A321neos from 2017.
Air Astana president Peter Foster says he expects to hold “really substantial discussions” during Farnborough with Embraer about the Pratt and Whitney PW1700G-powered E-Jet E2, which it has selected to replace its nine current-generation E-Jets.
“We may well make a statement of intent at Farnborough next month,” says Foster.
“Over the longer term, we would probably look to replace all our E190s when their leases expire from 2016/17, with E2s,” he says. “We might start to bring some more [current] Embraers in on lease prior to that time,” he adds.
The E190 E2 will be the first of the new variants introduced, with deliveries due to start in the first half of 2018. The E195 will follow around a year later and the E175 a year after that.
Air Astana operates seven of its nine E190s on lease and Foster says the leasing option is preferred after the “difficulty” it had securing export credit financing from the BNDES Brazilian Development Bank, which ran into problems with the government’s insurance agency.
“We did actually get export credit in the end, but it was a close-run thing and not as much as we wanted,” says Foster. “After that experience, we’ll probably play it safe and lease the aircraft.”
Meanwhile the Kazakh airline is preparing a request for proposals for 11 A321neos to replace its five Boeing 757-200s as their leases expire from 2017. Foster says the airline had planned to issue a broader RFP for its 757 replacement taking in the Boeing 737 Max, but the desire for commonality with the airline’s current A320 fleet has prompted it to focus on the Airbus twinjet.
“It is very much becoming an RFP for leased A321neos. To introduce the Max when we’ve already got a fleet of Airbuses...there doesn’t seem to be a compelling reason why we should put ourselves through the agony of retraining all our pilots,” he says.
“So we will lease 11 A321neos between 2017 and 2020. What we haven’t decided yet is who we will lease them from. We’re talking to all the usual suspects.”
Foster says that the airline – which currently operates a fleet of 13 International Aero Engines V2500-powered A320 family aircraft – has not decided between the CFM International Leap and P&W PW1100G for its A321neos.
To replace its 757s on services to Europe and Asia, Air Astana plans to equip the A321neos in a “long-haul” configuration with 22 lie-flat business seats and 138 economy seats.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
