ALETTER of intent to purchase ten Boeing 737-400 aircraft signed by Aeroflot has caused a public outcry in Russia (Flight International, 29 May-5 June).
Farid Mukhametshin, prime minister of the autonomous republic of Tatarstan where the Tupolev Tu-214 twinjet is produced at the Kazan aircraft plant, sent an angry letter to Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, Aeroflot general director, expressing bewilderment at the deal and advising Aeroflot to reconsider instead the acquisition of locally produced aircraft.
That move was followed immediately by a visit of Tatarstan president Mentimer Shaimiyev to Moscow for a meeting with the Russian prime minster Victor Chernomyrdin "-to discuss the problems of the Russian aircraft industry".
Commenting on the controversy, Shaposhnikov says that Aeroflot could not save the domestic aircraft industry on its own, and if it were to try, then it would perish along with the production plants.
Aerfolot's general director also repeats his dissatisfaction with the reliability of the Perm Motors PS-90 engines, which are used to power Tupolev Tu- 204s, Tu-214s and Ilyushin Il-96s.
Source: Flight International
