Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot has filed a claim against aerospace firm Yakovlev with the Moscow arbitration court.
While the fundamental argument and details of the case have not been revealed, the claim sum disclosed by the court filing is just under Rb7.3 billion ($86 million).
Yakovlev is the manufacturer of Superjet 100s – and is developing a more domesticated version, the SJ-100 – as well as the MC-21.
Aeroflot reached an agreement with Yakovlev, under its previous name Irkut, almost two years ago which covered purchase of 339 aircraft, among them 210 MC-21s and 89 SJ-100s.
Whether the case, dated 2 August, relates to this agreement, a dispute with the current Aeroflot fleet, or a separate matter, is unclear.
Aeroflot was recently reported to be negotiating a restructuring of the agreement, indicating it would be converted entirely to MC-21s.
Chief executive Sergei Aleksandrovsky had been quoted as saying that the change was driven by delays in deliveries.
Aeroflot is a large user of Superjet 100s although group sister carrier Rossiya has been lined up as the focal point of operations with domestically-built aircraft.
Russia’s government had revised an industrial forecast for domestic civil aircraft production in May this year, pushing back delivery schedules by about two years – to 2025 for the MC-21 and 2026 for the SJ-100.
Aeroflot has newly disclosed half-year financial results which claim to show a continuing trend of “gradual improvement” for the company, with revenue growth outpacing the rise in costs owing to strong passenger numbers and load factors.
It generated revenues of Rb312 billion for the six months to 30 June, under Russian accounting standards. The company states that expansion of its Krasnoyarsk hub has contributed to the performance.
Aeroflot turned in a net profit of RB35.3 billion for the half-year, in contrast to the previous loss of Rb81.7 billion. It also showed a second-quarter net profit of Rb42.2 billion.
