The US Exim bank is expected to release by the end of the year long-awaited funding for an initial batch of three Ilyushin Il-96T widebody freighters being acquired by Aeroflot.
The Pratt & Whitney PW2000-powered aircraft received US Federal Aviation Administration certification in June, but the aircraft have not been delivered as final details of the financing conditions are still being thrashed out. The Exim bank recently wrote to the Russian Government outlining its remaining concerns, say officials close to the project.
The Russian flag carrier is due to receive an additional 17 Il-96M passenger aircraft in batches once the funding package has been agreed.
The aircraft will probably be registered in Bermuda, alongside 10 Boeing 737-400s also being acquired by Aeroflot and financed by the Exim bank, according to Ilyushin head of foreign economic relations Valery Smirnov.
The Exim bank is financing the US content of the Il-96M/T, which includes Rockwell Collins avionics in addition to the P&W engines.
Smirnov claims that Ilyushin also has a "valid preliminary contract" with cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr, which is interested in ordering four Il-96Ts, to operate alongside its Antonov An-124s.
Meanwhile, flight testing of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127-powered Il-114-100 turboprop regional airliner continues, with Russian certification of the aircraft set for September, according to Smirnov. Several Russian airlines - including Aeroflot - intend to operate the aircraft, he says, and South East Asian carriers are also being targeted as potential customers.
Russian manufacturer Tupolev, meanwhile, continues to attempt to find takers for the Tu-204 narrowbody twinjet among the cash-strapped airlines of Russia and the CIS. Moscow-based TransEuropean is operating two Perm PS-90-powered Tu-204-100s, while Vnukovo Airlines is taking five. Transaero has expressed interest in acquiring 10 aircraft, but has yet to make a firm commitment, according to Tupolev chief designer Yury Vorobjev.
Three Rolls-Royce RB211-535-powered Tu-204-120s, marketed by Sirocco Aerospace, have been delivered to Air Cairo in Egypt, but no additional customers have been signed.
Source: Flight International
