Aeroflot-Russian International Airlines (ARIA) made a "mistake" in attempting to base its fleet around Western-built aircraft, says Valery Okulov, the airline's general director.
"In the past, we thought we could work on the basis of Western aircraft, but we now know that was a mistake. We cannot base our strategy on leasing foreign equipment alone," says Okulov, pointing to the costs of leasing and maintaining Western aircraft types.
He says that a model has been drawn up of the "ideal" fleet, which includes a mix of Western- and Russian-built airliner types. "The aviation industry in Russia has a chance to take part in our development," he adds.
Okulev's predecessor came under heavy criticism in 1996 over plans to take ten Boeing 737s, in a deal eventually signed in April. Aria has 13 Western-built aircraft, including ten Airbus A310s, two Boeing 767-300ERs and one McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F.
Aria has since signed for 17 Russian-built Ilyushin Il-96Ms and three Il-96T freighters. Okulev says that the Tupolev Tu-204 and increased gross-weight Tu-214 will also form part of the fleet plans through to 2010, in addition to the Ilyushin Il-114 64-seat turboprop. The plan is to use the Il-114 to develop ARIA's strategy of setting up regional hubs all over Russia.
The airline has been working to improve the performance of Perm PS90A engines through the signing of a power-by-the-hour deal with the manufacturer. The aim was to take the engine-utilisation rates up from only 5.4h per day up to 6h. Okulev says that the rates are up to 7.8h, and the airline is trying to form similar relationships with other Russian suppliers.
Meanwhile, plans are under way to keep the Russian-built fleet in the air. The most pressing issue is the updating of communications equipment to meet the new Eurocontrol rules on radio frequencies, to take effect in 1998.
Source: Flight International
