The absence of an established maintenance network is a “major reason” why Russia’s S7 has shied away from adding the Sukhoi Superjet model to its Western-built fleet.
“We expect the manufacturer to provide us with a maintenance network for all the airports that we operate,” said Vadim Besperstov, deputy chief executive officer for strategy, S7 Group, at the Ascend Finance Forum 2020 in Tokyo today.
“From a transition and viability point of view, we are not ready to be a launch customer for new equipment,” he says.
Besperstov admits S7 established the maintenance networks for Airbus and Boeing because it was “one of the first operators in the country”.
“But to do it again, for a new aircraft, would be very costly, and we cannot do this with our own money,” he says.
In that sense, he says S7’s “mentality” is very close to that of a low-cost airline even it operate as more of a traditional carrier.
Source: Commercial Aviation Online
