Flattened board

An old plane will ruin a furrow and won’t fly far

The actual ban on the import of the latest aircraft equipment into Russia forces air carriers to purchase equipment in the literal sense of the last century.

Progress in the civil aircraft industry is developing so rapidly that we can talk about a scientific and technological revolution that has been unfolding in the global aviation industry over the past fifteen years. Since the 90s and to this day, there has been an abrupt increase in both the quality and quantity of aircraft produced and sold. Unfortunately, our country found itself on the sidelines of this process. Although there are no rules without exceptions. The creators of the world's best front-line bombers Su-24 and heavy fighters Su-27 and Su-30MK devoted part of their intellectual potential to creating a passenger aircraft in the new century. And this civilian project from Sukhoi became a breakthrough in the domestic aircraft industry. In the promising aircraft RRJ (Russian regional jet), it was possible to implement all the best that has been accumulated to date in the aircraft industry. Therefore, a non-Russian name on an absolutely Russian aircraft is completely justified.

The RRJ family of airliners promises to become the basis of the fleet of domestic air carriers. This can be confirmed by statements from the managers and owners of many Russian airlines.

In high demand on the world market are machines that have the highest reliability, excellent passenger cabin comfort, ease of control of the aircraft in flight and ease of service on the ground, but especially - efficiency and compliance with the most stringent environmental requirements. All of the above is embodied in RRJ. Moreover, in a number of characteristics, the Russian regional aircraft is superior to its global counterparts.

The problem, however, is that the RRJ will not cover all the niches of the domestic aviation market, and its serial production will begin in two or three years. And yet there is a way out.

The domestic aircraft fleet urgently needs to be updated, taking into service the newest aircraft created in the USA and Western Europe. And Russia will be able to dispose of new cars.

Here is what Valery Okulov, General Director of Aeroflot OJSC, says: “Where we have the opportunity to use the best airliners, be they American or European, passengers give preference to Aeroflot.” Our pricing policy is more favorable, our service is at the highest level, and much more, which attracts clients from various countries to us. Any modern aircraft flying under the Russian flag, whether Russian or foreign, brings profit to Russia. Here we, air carriers, pay taxes, here we create jobs. Today, customs duties on aircraft imported into our country are such that it is simply unprofitable for air carriers to buy new aircraft. It is cheaper to buy used airliners. And many air carriers are unable to overcome the temptation. As a result, the Russian aircraft fleet is becoming saturated with used foreign cars. In this way, we can maintain competitiveness with Western airlines in the short term, but strategically we will inevitably lose. Realizing this, Aeroflot did not follow this path - we purchase Airbus planes directly from the stocks.

And the state must create for our aviation industry, as well as for air carriers, the same conditions as their Western competitors - for starters, cancel VAT on aircraft sold, on purchased components and equipment.”

It can be added that the purely private Russian airline Transaero confidently occupied its niche in global air travel only because it initially relied on the best Western-made passenger aircraft.

In general, the current situation on the market looks strange: the idea arose to support domestic automakers, and draconian duties were introduced on used foreign cars. This only led to the fact that Russian roads were filled with expensive new “geldings” and the same old “Japanese”. It’s profitable to take old things because they cost a penny abroad, and new ones because customs gives the go-ahead. But in aviation it’s the other way around. It is profitable to take outdated cars, but at a loss, take those planes that suit both airlines and passengers. With current tariffs, a new airliner costs forty percent more than its market price.

According to calculations by the State Scientific Research Institute of Civil Aviation, the demand for the supply of new aircraft in Russia by 2015 will amount to about five hundred aircraft. And the question is whether these will really be new planes or old ones.

National protectionism, when well-founded and properly organized, does not contradict the rules of the World Trade Organization.

In the US, sales tax on aircraft is zero! Brazil has managed to create an aviation industry that is quite competitive on a global scale only through tax incentives and government preferences. And the world market reacted to this quite calmly! United Europe was able to step over national ambitions, give the same preferences and organize the production of European Airbuses in the shortest possible time. If, as they say, there is a desire...

In our country, government economists do not seem to see beyond the value added tax and the constant increase in customs duties. VAT and customs, of course, provide immediate profit. But it cannot be compared with the losses that the country is suffering from the fact that the once advanced aviation industry is being strangled by financial reins “out of good intentions.”

In the proverb, an old horse does not spoil the furrow, but in aviation it spoils, slows down, and stumbles, which is fraught with very sad consequences. Patriots from among the patriots of the domestic aviation industry are today in favor of saturating the fleet of air carriers with the most advanced Western aircraft, and directing the profits they provide to the real revival of the national aviation industry, which, with reasonable organization, can happen in a matter of years. And proof of this is the RRJ project, which our designers and production organizers were able to implement in the most unfavorable conditions and in the shortest possible time.

Sergey SMIRNOV