Aeroflot-Russian International Airlines (ARIA) is to take two GE90-powered Boeing 777-200s on a seven-year lease from International Lease Finance. The aircraft will be delivered in 1998 and will initially give the airline capacity to cover for the expected delay to the delivery of the first of 17 Iluyshin Il-96Ms it has on order.
The 777s are expected to be used primarily on services to the USA, although an official announcement is not expected until November, when a firm deal is expected to be signed. The Pratt & Whitney- powered Il-96M is behind schedule and has yet to fly, making deliveries before 1999 unlikely.
The first of three Il-96T cargo versions is expected to go into service in 1998, although Igor Desyatnichenko, the ARIA economics department chief, says that there are doubts about the delivery dates of the aircraft.
With ARIA training nearly twice the usual number of crews required for this number of aircraft, there is speculation that orders for additional 777s could be on the cards. Airlines in Singapore, the UK and the USA are in talks on airframe maintenance and General Electric will service the engines.
The Russian carrier has, meanwhile, signed a deal with General Electric Capital Aviation Services for the lease of two Airbus A310-300s in a five-year deal. The aircraft will replace two Pratt & Whitney-powered A310-300s jointly operated with Sakha Diamond Airlines. ARIA operates eight more General Electric-powered A310-300s.
The carrier is also looking at the possibility of short-term leases for two additional Boeing 767-300 ERs. The airline already operates two of these on a five-year lease which expires in September 1999. Strong traffic figures for 1997 have indicated a need for a further two aircraft. The airline also has an order for the delivery of ten Boeing 737-400s.
ARIA's director general Valeri Okulov confirms that the airline is also discussing an order for up to 36 Tupolev Tu-214s to replace its Tu-154s and Ilyushin Il-76s. Kazan Aircraft Production, which produces the Tu-214, a higher-gross-weight version of the Tu-204, has exerted political pressure to secure the Tu-214 order. If the deal is signed, the aircraft will be delivered in passenger, cargo and quick-change versions.
ARIA has also received a lease proposal from International Moscow Aviation for seven Perm PS-90A-powered Tu-204s.
Source: Flight International
