Russia's United Aircraft is seeking to foster demand for its projected new aircraft by offering fiscally-attractive investment deals to domestic airlines using foreign equipment.
The company has submitted a legislative proposal to threee ministries - finance, industry and economic development - to link duty-free acquisition of Western aircraft to commitments to taking domestically-produced ones.
Airlines would be freed from paying 20% custom duty on foreign aircraft seating 50-300 passengers if they signed up for types such as United Aircraft's MS-21, and made advance payments to plants.
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Civil programmes division chief Vladimir Smolko, who is also vice-president of MS-21 project steering company Irkut, says: "Deliveries [of the MS-21] are scheduled to begin in 2016. But there may be a lack of demand, given current availability of relatively new Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s."
Customers would be reimbursed if the plant failed to deliver on time or to agreed specifications. The proposed scheme is intended to be effective until 2016 and allow United Aircraft enough time to bring all planned new products, notably the MS-21, to serial production.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
